To cite this article: J Déchard et al 2017 J. Phys. Commun. 1 055009 View the article online for updates and enhancements. Abstract The Unidirectional Pulse Propagation Equation (UPPE) is often used to compute the forward component of ultrashort light pulses in nonlinear materials. While its accuracy has frequently been reported for many applications in ultrafast optics, its validity can be questionable for ionizing pulses, in particular in the frequency domain below the electron plasma

more »

... y pe w . Inaccuracy of the UPPE model in this frequency range may be detrimental to, e.g., a correct description of laser-driven terahertz emission. Here we demonstrate, analytically and numerically, that over long enough propagation paths, the one-dimensional solutions of both UPPE and the full wave equation match in the entire spectrum, including the spectral range OPEN ACCESS RECEIVED