New mechanism of self-focusing of light in a gas medium in the presence of absorbing centers
Kopytin Yu.D. , Khmelevtsov S.S.
It is demonstrated that self-focusing of light pulses is possible in media with negative temperature gradient of the refractive index and having discrete absorption centers. The mechanism of the effect consists in an increase of density of the medium in the space between the particles, owing to the averaging of the pressure waves that propagate from the radiation-heated particles.