Spin-Glass Model Governs Laser Multiple Filamentation

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that the complex patterns of multiple filamentation in high-power lasers can be effectively modeled using a spin-glass framework, capturing pattern self-similarity and interactions, and significantly reducing computational costs.

Contribution

It introduces a novel spin-glass based model that accurately reproduces laser filamentation dynamics and offers a more efficient simulation approach.

Findings

The spin-glass model matches Non-Linear Schrödinger Equation simulations.

Pattern self-similarity is captured by the model.

Computational efficiency is improved by two orders of magnitude.

Abstract

We show that multiple filamentation patterns in high-power laser beams, can be described by means of two statistical physics concepts, namely self-similarity of the patterns over two nested scales, and nearest-neighbor interactions of classical rotators. The resulting lattice spin model perfectly reproduces the evolution of intense laser pulses as simulated by the Non-Linear Schr\"odinger Equation, shedding a new light on multiple filamentation. As a side benefit, this approach drastically reduces the computing time by two orders of magnitude as compared to the standard simulation methods of laser filamentation.