Self-focusing of Gaussian laser beam in relativistic cold quantum plasma

This paper presents an investigation of the self-focusing of Gaussian laser beam in relativistic cold quantum plasma. Employing the expression for the dielectric function of cold quantum plasma, we have setup the differential equation for beam-width parameter by using the WKB and paraxial approximation, and solved numerically. The results have been presented in the form of graphs and discussed. It is found that quantum effects plays vital role in laser–plasma interaction and significantly adds self-focusing in plasma as compared to that of classical relativistic case of reference.