Multiple beam two-plasmon decay: linear threshold to nonlinear saturation in three dimensions.

The linear stability of multiple coherent laser beams with respect to two-plasmon-decay instability in an inhomogeneous plasma in three dimensions has been determined. Cooperation between beams leads to absolute instability of long-wavelength decays, while shorter-wavelength shared waves are shown to saturate convectively. The multibeam, in its absolutely unstable form, has the lowest threshold for most cases considered. Nonlinear calculations using a three-dimensional extended Zakharov model show that Langmuir turbulence created by the absolute instability modifies the convective saturation of the shorter-wavelength modes, which are seen to dominate at late times.