Vol. 6, issue 12, article # 7

Abstract:

In this paper we present some results of experimental studies of displacements of the energy centers of source images of laser radiation which makes up a refraction channel in an absorbing medium, and of sounding beams that propagate through this channel. This particular study concerns the nonstationary (transient) phase of the interaction. In our study we have varied the distance between the beam axes, as a result, we show that most accurate (adequate) information about the amplitude of the displacement process (for the case of a source of high–power radiation) can be obtained with a sounding beam propagating along a path in a windward portion of the beam while the information about the temporal behavior of the displacement process is more accurate if obtained with a sounding beam propagating along a path in the central portion of the beam. It is also shown that for the Reynolds number exceeding two the formation process is similar to damped oscillations.