Stable three-dimensional optical solitons supported by competing quadratic and self-focusing cubic nonlinearities.

We show that the quadratic (chi(2)) interaction of fundamental and second harmonics in a bulk dispersive medium, combined with self-focusing cubic (chi(3)) nonlinearity, give rise to stable three-dimensional spatiotemporal solitons (STSs), despite the possibility of the supercritical collapse, induced by the chi(3) nonlinearity. At exact phase matching (beta = 0) , the STSs are stable for energies from zero up to a certain maximum value, while for beta not equal 0 the solitons are stable in energy intervals between finite limits.

Stable vortex tori in the three-dimensional cubic-quintic Ginzburg-Landau equation.

We demonstrate the existence of stable toroidal dissipative solitons with the inner phase field in the form of rotating spirals, corresponding to vorticity S=0, 1, and 2, in the complex Ginzburg-Landau equation with the cubic-quintic nonlinearity. The stable solitons easily self-trap from pulses with embedded vorticity. The stability is corroborated by accurate computation of growth rates for perturbation eigenmodes. The results provide the first example of stable vortex tori in a 3D dissipative medium, as well as the first example of higher-order tori (with S=2) in any nonlinear medium. It is found that all stable vortical solitons coexist in a large domain of the parameter space; in smaller regions, there coexist stable solitons with either S=0 and S=1, or S=1 and S=2.

Three-dimensional spatiotemporal optical solitons in nonlocal nonlinear media.

We demonstrate the existence of stable three-dimensional spatiotemporal solitons (STSs) in media with a nonlocal cubic nonlinearity. Fundamental (nonspinning) STSs forming one-parameter families are stable if their propagation constant exceeds a certain critical value that is inversely proportional to the range of nonlocality of nonlinear response. All spinning three-dimensional STSs are found to be unstable.

Stable solitons of even and odd parities supported by competing nonlocal nonlinearities.

We introduce a one-dimensional phenomenological model of a nonlocal medium featuring focusing cubic and defocusing quintic nonlocal optical nonlinearities. By means of numerical methods, we find families of solitons of two types, even-parity (fundamental) and dipole-mode (odd-parity) ones. Stability of the solitons is explored by means of computation of eigenvalues associated with modes of small perturbations, and tested in direct simulations. We find that the stability of the fundamental solitons strictly follows the Vakhitov-Kolokolov criterion, whereas the dipole solitons can be destabilized through a Hamiltonian-Hopf bifurcation. The solitons of both types may be stable in the nonlocal model with only quintic self-attractive nonlinearity, in contrast with the instability of all solitons in the local version of the quintic model.

Stable spatiotemporal solitons in bessel optical lattices.

We investigate the existence and stability of three-dimensional solitons supported by cylindrical Bessel lattices in self-focusing media. If the lattice strength exceeds a threshold value, we show numerically, and using the variational approximation, that the solitons are stable within one or two intervals of values of their norm. In the latter case, the Hamiltonian versus norm diagram has a swallowtail shape with three cuspidal points. The model applies to Bose-Einstein condensates and to optical media with saturable nonlinearity, suggesting new ways of making stable three-dimensional solitons and "light bullets" of an arbitrary size.

Stable three-dimensional spatiotemporal solitons in a two-dimensional photonic lattice.

We investigate the existence and stability of three-dimensional spatiotemporal solitons in self-focusing cubic Kerr-type optical media with an imprinted two-dimensional harmonic transverse modulation of the refractive index. We demonstrate that two-dimensional photonic Kerr-type nonlinear lattices can support stable one-parameter families of three-dimensional spatiotemporal solitons provided that their energy is within a certain interval and the strength of the lattice potential, which is proportional to the refractive index modulation depth, is above a certain threshold value.

Robust soliton clusters in media with competing cubic and quintic nonlinearities.

Systematic results are reported for dynamics of circular patterns ("necklaces"), composed of fundamental solitons and carrying orbital angular momentum, in the two-dimensional model, which describes the propagation of light beams in bulk media combining self-focusing cubic and self-defocusing quintic nonlinearities. Semianalytical predictions for the existence of quasistable necklace structures are obtained on the basis of an effective interaction potential. Then, direct simulations are run. In the case when the initial pattern is far from an equilibrium size predicted by the potential, it cannot maintain its shape. However, a necklace with the initial shape close to the predicted equilibrium survives very long evolution, featuring persistent oscillations. The quasistable evolution is not essentially disturbed by a large noise component added to the initial configuration. Basic conclusions concerning the necklace dynamics in this model are qualitatively the same as in a recently studied one which combines quadratic and self-defocusing cubic nonlinearities. Thus, we infer that a combination of competing self-focusing and self-defocusing nonlinearities enhances the robustness not only of vortex solitons but also of vorticity-carrying necklace patterns.

Stable three-dimensional spinning optical solitons supported by competing quadratic and cubic nonlinearities.

We show that the quadratic interaction of fundamental and second harmonics in a bulk dispersive medium, combined with self-defocusing cubic nonlinearity, gives rise to completely localized spatiotemporal solitons (vortex tori) with vorticity s=1. There is no threshold necessary for the existence of these solitons. They are found to be stable if their energy exceeds a certain critical value, so that the stability domain occupies about 10% of the existence region of the solitons. On the contrary to spatial vortex solitons in the same model, the spatiotemporal ones with s=2 are never stable. These results might open the way for experimental observation of spinning three-dimensional solitons in optical media.

Stable spinning optical solitons in three dimensions.

We introduce spatiotemporal spinning solitons (vortex tori) of the three-dimensional nonlinear Schrödinger equation with focusing cubic and defocusing quintic nonlinearities. The first ever found completely stable spatiotemporal vortex solitons are demonstrated. A general conclusion is that stable spinning solitons are possible as a result of competition between focusing and defocusing nonlinearities.

Stable vortex solitons in the two-dimensional Ginzburg-Landau equation.

In the framework of the complex cubic-quintic Ginzburg-Landau equation, we perform a systematic analysis of two-dimensional axisymmetric doughnut-shaped localized pulses with the inner phase field in the form of a rotating spiral. We put forward a qualitative argument which suggests that, on the contrary to the known fundamental azimuthal instability of spinning doughnut-shaped solitons in the cubic-quintic NLS equation, their GL counterparts may be stable. This is confirmed by massive direct simulations, and, in a more rigorous way, by calculating the growth rate of the dominant perturbation eigenmode. It is shown that very robust spiral solitons with (at least) the values of the vorticity S=0, 1, and 2 can be easily generated from a large variety of initial pulses having the same values of intrinsic vorticity S. In a large domain of the parameter space, it is found that all the stable solitons coexist, each one being a strong attractor inside its own class of localized two-dimensional pulses distinguished by their vorticity. In a smaller region of the parameter space, stable solitons with S=1 and 2 coexist, while the one with S=0 is absent. Stable breathers, i.e., both nonspiraling and spiraling solitons demonstrating persistent quasiperiodic internal vibrations, are found too.

Three-dimensional spinning solitons in the cubic-quintic nonlinear medium.

We find one-parameter families of three-dimensional spatiotemporal bright vortex solitons (doughnuts, or spinning light bullets), in bulk dispersive cubic-quintic optically nonlinear media. The spinning solitons display a symmetry-breaking azimuthal instability, which leads to breakup of the spinning soliton into a set of fragments, each being a stable nonspinning light bullet. However, in some cases the instability is developing so slowly that the spinning light bullets may be regarded as virtually stable ones, from the standpoint of an experiment with finite-size samples.

Soliton dynamics of symmetry-endowed two-soliton solutions of the nonlinear Schrodinger equation.

A comprehensive analysis is presented of the propagation of symmetry-endowed two-soliton solutions under the influence of various perturbations important in nonlinear optics. Thus, we begin by introducing the analytical expressions of these two-soliton solutions. Then, by considering perturbations which preserve the initial symmetry of the two-soliton solutions, the dependence of the soliton parameters on the propagation distance is determined by using an adiabatic perturbation method. As perturbations of this kind, important for soliton-based communication systems, we consider the bandwidth-limited amplification, nonlinear amplification, and amplitude and phase modulation. Moreover, the results obtained by the adiabatic perturbation method are compared with those obtained by direct numerical simulations of the corresponding governing differential equations. (c) 2000 American Institute of Physics.

Exact solitary-wave solutions of chi(2) Ginzburg-Landau equations.

A family of exact temporal solitary-wave solutions (dissipative solitons) to the equations governing second-harmonic generation in quadratically nonlinear optical waveguides, in the presence of linear bandwidth-limited gain at the fundamental harmonic and linear loss at the second harmonic, is found, and the existence domain for the solutions is delineated. Direct numerical simulations of the solitons demonstrate that, as well as the classical pulse solutions to the cubic Ginzburg-Landau equation, the dissipative solitons can propagate robustly over a considerable distance before the model's intrinsic instability leads to onset of "turbulence." Two-soliton bound states are also predicted and then found in the direct simulations. We estimate real values of the physical parameters necessary for the existence of the solitons predicted, and conclude that they can be observed experimentally. A promising application for the solitons is their use in closed-loop cavities.

Linear stability analysis of walking vector solitons.

The linear stability analysis of two-parameter families of walking vector solitons of coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equations is performed. It is shown that the eigenvalues of the corresponding linearized problem can be complex valued in certain regions of the parameter space. The complex nature of the associated Lyapunov eigenvalues leads to a quite complicated pattern of instability regions of lowest-order soliton types. This pattern includes two typical situations: (i) the relevant eigenmode has a purely imaginary eigenvalue that passes through zero at the critical point and then becomes purely real, and (ii) the interplay between two discrete eigenmodes having purely imaginary eigenvalues leads to a bifurcation scenario where two imaginary eigenvalues merge together and become complex at the bifurcation point. It is shown that all known, lowest-order soliton types, namely slow, fast, in-phase vector, and out-of-phase vector, are dynamically stable in certain regions of the parameter space.