Exciting extreme events in the damped and AC-driven NLS equation through plane-wave initial conditions.

We investigate, by direct numerical simulations and for certain parametric regimes, the dynamics of the damped and forced nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) equation in the presence of a time-periodic forcing. It is thus revealed that the wave number of a plane-wave initial condition dictates the number of emerged Peregrine-type rogue waves at the early stages of modulation instability. The formation of these events gives rise to the same number of transient "triangular" spatiotemporal patterns, each of which is reminiscent of the one emerging in the dynamics of the integrable NLS in its semiclassical limit, when supplemented with vanishing initial conditions. We find that the L2-norm of the spatial derivative and the L4-norm detect the appearance of rogue waves as local extrema in their evolution. The impact of the various parameters and noisy perturbations of the initial condition in affecting the above behavior is also discussed. The long-time behavior, in the parametric regimes where the extreme wave events are observable, is explained in terms of the global attractor possessed by the system and the asymptotic orbital stability of spatially uniform continuous wave solutions.

Soliton pairs in two-dimensional nonlocal media.

We study the interaction of optical beams of different wavelengths, described by a two-component, two-dimensional (2D) nonlocal nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) model. Using a multiscale expansion method the NLS model is asymptotically reduced to the completely integrable 2D Mel'nikov system, the soliton solutions of which are used to construct approximate dark-bright and antidark-bright soliton solutions of the original NLS model; the latter being unique to the nonlocal NLS system with no relevant counterparts in the local case. Direct numerical simulations show that, for sufficiently small amplitudes, both these types of soliton stripes do exist and propagate undistorted, in excellent agreement with the analytical predictions. Larger amplitude of these soliton stripes, when perturbed along the transverse direction, disintegrate either to filled vortex structures (the dark-bright solitons) or to radiation (the antidark-bright solitons).

Light Meets Water in Nonlocal Media: Surface Tension Analogue in Optics.

Shallow water wave phenomena find their analogue in optics through a nonlocal nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) model in 2+1 dimensions. We identify an analogue of surface tension in optics, namely, a single parameter depending on the degree of nonlocality, which changes the sign of dispersion, much like surface tension does in the shallow water wave problem. Using multiscale expansions, we reduce the NLS model to a Kadomtsev-Petviashvili (KP) equation, which is of the KPII (KPI) type, for strong (weak) nonlocality. We demonstrate the emergence of robust optical antidark solitons forming Y-, X-, and H-shaped wave patterns, which are approximated by colliding KPII line solitons, similar to those observed in shallow waters.

Rogue waves in nonlocal media.

The generation of rogue waves is investigated in a class of nonlocal nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) equations. In this system, modulation instability is suppressed as the effect of nonlocality increases. Despite this fact, there is a parameter regime where the number and amplitude of the rogue events increase as compared to the standard NLS equation, which is a limit of the system when nonlocality vanishes. Furthermore, the nature of these waves is investigated; while no analytical solutions are known to model these events, it is shown, numerically, that these rogue events differ significantly from the rational soliton (Peregrine) solution of the limiting NLS equation. The universal structure of the associated rogue waves is discussed and a local description is presented. These results can help in the experimental realization of rogue waves in these media.

Ring dark and antidark solitons in nonlocal media.

Ring dark and antidark solitons in nonlocal media are found. These structures have, respectively, the form of annular dips or humps on top of a stable CW background, and exist in a weak or strong nonlocality regime, defined by the sign of a characteristic parameter. It is demonstrated analytically that these solitons satisfy an effective cylindrical Kadomtsev-Petviashvili (aka Johnson's) equation and, as such, can be written explicitly in closed form. Numerical simulations show that they propagate undistorted and undergo quasi-elastic collisions, attesting to their stability properties.

Dark solitons in the presence of higher-order effects.

Dark soliton propagation is studied in the presence of higher-order effects, including third-order dispersion, self-steepening, linear/nonlinear gain/loss, and Raman scattering. It is found that for certain values of the parameters a stable evolution can exist for both the soliton and the relative continuous-wave background. Using a newly developed perturbation theory we show that the perturbing effects give rise to a shelf that accompanies the soliton in its propagation. Although, the stable solitons are not affected by the shelf it remains an integral part of the dynamics otherwise not considered so far in studies of higher-order nonlinear Schrödinger models.

Dark solitons in mode-locked lasers.

Dark soliton formation in mode-locked lasers is investigated by means of a power-energy saturation model that incorporates gain and filtering saturated with energy, and loss saturated with power. It is found that general initial conditions evolve (mode-lock) into dark solitons under appropriate requirements also met in experimental observations. The resulting pulses are essentially dark solitons of the unperturbed nonlinear Schrödinger equation. Notably, the same framework also describes bright pulses in anomalous and normally dispersive lasers.

Fractal self-transform functions.

The concept of fractal (self-similar) self-transform functions is examined. A general method to prove existence of these functions is introduced, and necessary conditions for this existence are derived. The results are general and apply to all transforms with product-type kernels.

Modal analysis of circular Bragg fibers with arbitrary index profiles.

A finite-difference approach based upon the immersed interface method is used to analyze the mode structure of Bragg fibers with arbitrary index profiles. The method allows general propagation constants and eigenmodes to be calculated to a high degree of accuracy, while computation times are kept to a minimum by exploiting sparse matrix algebra. The method is well suited to handle complicated structures comprised of a large number of thin layers with high-index contrast and simultaneously determines multiple eigenmodes without modification.

Self-Fourier functions and self-Fourier operators.

The concept of self-Fourier functions, i.e., functions that equal their Fourier transform, is almost always associated with specific functions, the most well known being the Gaussian and the Dirac delta comb. We show that there exists an infinite number of distinct families of these functions, and we provide an algorithm for both generating and characterizing their distinct classes. This formalism allows us to show the existence of these families of functions without actually evaluating any Fourier or other transform-type integrals, a task often challenging and frequently not even possible.

Nonlinear optics in a birefringent optical fiber.

We extend the perturbation theory of the nonlinear Schrödinger equation for the study of perturbed (nonintegrable) forms of the vector equation. We derive a set of linear equations that describe the radiation field shed by the soliton as it propagates down a birefringent optical fiber. The formalism is applied to the case when strong birefringence and higher-order dispersion are present in the fiber and to the study of polarization mode dispersion. Finally we discuss an analytical treatment of the mechanism that generates the soliton shadow.

Solitons in fibers with polarization mode dispersion.

Evaluating the relative time displacement of the two orthogonally polarized components of a pulse propagating down a birefringent optical fiber is considered. A method that provides analytical expressions for this time displacement is described and generalizes analytical results already published.