Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-short-options-paper-shared-by-prelims-and-parts-a-and-b-of-the-physics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2016/s19/3/c/solution

Propagation through an already formed cold plasma requires , hence . For the illustrative density above, that is a cutoff near 126 micrometres. It is a propagation ceiling, not a sufficient condition for producing ionization.
TODO — the unique cutoff inherits the unspecified density, and a literal maximum wavelength for gas ionization also needs gas species, laser intensity and the ionization mechanism. A single-photon threshold would impose ; strong-field or multiphoton ionization is a different criterion. None of those data is supplied. The density-dependent propagation condition is the part determined symbolically.

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