Nonlinear refraction of hard x rays

We study the nonlinear refraction of x rays in highly ionized condensed matter by using a classical model of a cold electron plasma in a lattice of still ions coupled with Maxwell equations. By employing a group-theoretical technique, we reduce the governing equations of the system to an integrable set of nonlinear ordinary differential equations, discussing the existence and stability of nonlinear waves. This allows us to define the effective Kerr coefficient n2 at x rays. With reference to real-world crystalline materials (B, C, Li, and Na), we consider beam self-defocusing and predict that nonlinear processes become comparable to the linear ones for focused beams with powers on the order of m c3/r0 (≈10 GW), the classical electron power. As a consequence, nonlinear phenomena are expected to largely affect imaging experiments in currently exploited x-ray free-electron lasers and in their future developments.