Self-organization of a light-sustained discharge

A theoretical model is proposed to describe a light-sustained discharge sustained by the radiation from a neodymium laser. The model is based on the Navier-Stokes equations. A solution of these equations is found in the form of a quasisimple wave, and it is shown that the evolution of the system exhibits bifurcation, where the point of bifurcation determines the energy deposition into the discharge. A study is made of the transition of the system to the stable state with complicated space-time and functional structures and a high level of organization (the degree of ordering is estimated from the change in the information entropy). Within this model calculations are made of the macroscopic parameters of the discharge, the level of fluctuations and the required power, and they agree with experimental data.