Relativistic interaction of ultra-short laser pulses with plasmas

The review of the results obtained recently in the theory and in the computer simulations with 2D and 3D PIC codes of the interaction of high-intensity, ultra-short laser pulses with plasmas is presented. The laser interaction with underdense plasmas and its application to the problem of charged particle acceleration, of laser frequency upshifting, of relativistic self focusing, and of the generation of a quasistatic magnetic field is discussed. We present the results of the analytical description and of the PIC simulations of nonlinear coherent structures such as relativistic solitons and vortices and the production of high harmonics. (Author)