Higher-order Kerr improve quantitative modeling of laser filamentation

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that incorporating higher-order Kerr effects into numerical models significantly enhances the accuracy of predicting laser filamentation characteristics, aligning simulations more closely with experimental data.

Contribution

The study introduces the inclusion of higher-order Kerr effects into filamentation models, improving their quantitative predictive power without adjustable parameters.

Findings

Higher-order Kerr effects improve model accuracy

Better agreement with experimental peak intensity data

Enhanced prediction of filament density

Abstract

We test numerical filamentation models against experimental data about the peak intensity and filament density in laser filaments. We show that the consideration of the higher-order Kerr effect (HOKE) improves the quantitative agreement without the need of adjustable parameters.