We study how two Gaussian laser beams interact through plasma wave wakes produced when they co-propagate in a plasma. Using a variational principle, we derive equations of motion for the centroid of each beam, and find braided centroid solutions. These results can be generalized to other nonlinear optical media with noninstantaneous nonlinearity.

• Received 26 April 2001

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.64.067401