Stimulated Raman forward scattering and relativistic modulational instability of light waves in rarefied plasma

Summary form only given, as follows. Previous analyses of the stimulated Raman forward scattering (SRFS) and the relativistic modulational instability (RMI) of light waves have treated these instabilities separately. In a rarefied plasma, however, they are closely linked branches of the same instability. A unified analysis of SRFS and RMI has been performed, and their consequences for beat-wave particle acceleration have been considered