Mode conversion of various solitons in parabolic and cross-phase potential wells.

We numerically establish the controllable conversion between Laguerre-Gaussian and Hermite-Gaussian solitons in nonlinear media featuring parabolic and cross-phase potential wells. The parabolic potential maintains the stability of Laguerre-Gaussian and Hermite-Gaussian beams, while the actual conversion between the two modes is facilitated by the cross-phase potential, which induces an additional phase shift. By flexibly engineering the range of the cross-phase potential well, various higher-mode solitons can be generated at desired distances. Beams carrying orbital angular momentum can also be efficiently controlled by this method. In addition, other types of beams, such as sine complex-various-function Gaussian and hypergeometric-Gaussian vortex beams, can be periodically transformed and manipulated in a similar manner. Our approach allows the intricate internal relationships between different modes of beams to be conveniently revealed.

Surface gap solitons in the Schrödinger equation with quintic nonlinearity and a lattice potential.

We demonstrate the existence of surface gap solitons, a special type of asymmetric solitons, in the one-dimensional nonlinear Schrödinger equation with quintic nonlinearity and a periodic linear potential. The nonlinearity is suddenly switched in a step-like fashion in the middle of the transverse spatial region, while the periodic linear potential is chosen in the form of a simple sin 2 lattice. The asymmetric nonlinearities in this work can be realized by the Feshbach resonance in Bose-Einstein condensates or by the photorefractive effect in optics. The major peaks in the gap soliton families are asymmetric and they are located at the position of the jump in nonlinearity (at x = 0). In addition, the major peaks of the two-peak and multi-peak solitons at the position x = 0 are higher than those after that position, at x > 0. And such phenomena are more obvious when the value of chemical potential is large, or when the difference of nonlinearity values across the jump is big. Along the way, linear stability analysis of the surface gap solitons is performed and the stability domains are identified. It is found that in this model, the solitons in the first band gap are mostly stable (excepting narrow domains of instability at the edges of the gap), while those in the second band gap are mostly unstable (excepting extremely narrow domains of stability for fundamental solitons). These findings are also corroborated by direct numerical simulations.

Spiraling Laguerre-Gaussian solitons and arrays in parabolic potential wells.

Controllable trajectories of beams are one of the main themes in optical science. Here, we investigate the propagation dynamics of Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) solitons in parabolic potential wells and introduce off-axis and chirp parameters (which represent the displacement and the initial angle of beams) to make solitons sinusoidally oscillate in the x and y directions and undergo elliptically or circularly spiraling trajectories during propagation. Additionally, LG solitons with different orders and powers can be combined into soliton arrays of various shapes, depending on the off-axis parameter. Moreover, the soliton arrays can exhibit periodic converging, rotating, and other evolution behaviors, by the proper choice of the chirp parameter. A series of interesting examples demonstrate typical propagation scenarios. Our results may provide a new perspective on and stimulate further investigations of multisoliton interactions in potential wells and may find applications in optical communication and particle control.

Triangular bright solitons in nonlinear optics and Bose-Einstein condensates.

We demonstrate what we believe to be novel triangular bright solitons that can be supported by the nonlinear Schrödinger equation with inhomogeneous Kerr-like nonlinearity and external harmonic potential, which can be realized in nonlinear optics and Bose-Einstein condensates. The profiles of these solitons are quite different from the common Gaussian or sech envelope beams, as their tops and bottoms are similar to the triangle and inverted triangle functions, respectively. The self-defocusing nonlinearity gives rise to the triangle-up solitons, while the self-focusing nonlinearity supports the triangle-down solitons. Here, we restrict our attention only to the lowest-order fundamental triangular solitons. All such solitons are stable, which is demonstrated by the linear stability analysis and also clarified by direct numerical simulations. In addition, the modulated propagation of both types of triangular solitons, with the modulated parameter being the strength of nonlinearity, is also presented. We find that such propagation is strongly affected by the form of the modulation of the nonlinearity. For example, the sudden change of the modulated parameter causes instabilities in the solitons, whereas the gradual variation generates stable solitons. Also, a periodic variation of the parameter causes the regular oscillation of solitons, with the same period. Interestingly, the triangle-up and triangle-down solitons can change into each other, when the parameter changes the sign.

Soliton transformation between different potential wells.

This paper presents a novel, to the best of our knowledge, method for realizing soliton transformation between different potential wells by gradually manipulating their depths in the propagation direction. The only requirements for such a transformation are that the gradient of the manipulated depth is smooth enough and the solitons in different potential wells are both in the regions of stability. The comparison of transformed solitons with the iterative ones obtained by the accelerated imaginary-time evolution method proves that our method is efficient and reliable. An interesting consequence is that in some complex potential wells in which it is difficult to find solitons by iterative numerical methods, stable solitons can be obtained by the transformation method. The controllable soliton transformation provides an excellent opportunity for all-optical switching, optical information processing, and other applications.

Higher-dimensional exceptional points and peakon dynamics triggered by spatially varying Kerr nonlinear media and PT δ(x) potentials.

Higher-dimensional PT-symmetric potentials constituted by delta-sign-exponential (DSE) functions are created in order to show that the exceptional points in the non-Hermitian Hamiltonian can be converted to those in the corresponding one-dimensional (1D) geometry, no matter the potentials inside are rotationally symmetric or not. These results are first numerically observed and then are proved by mathematical methods. For spatially varying Kerr nonlinearity, 2D exact peakons are explicitly obtained, giving birth to families of stable square peakons in the rotationally symmetric potentials and rhombic peakons in the nonrotationally symmetric potentials. By adiabatic excitation, different types of 2D peakons can be transformed stably and reciprocally. Under periodic and mixed perturbations, the 2D stable peakons can also travel stably along the spatially moving potential well, which implies that it is feasible to manage the propagation of the light by regulating judiciously the potential well. However, the vast majority of high-order vortex peakons are vulnerable to instability, which is demonstrated by the linear-stability analysis and by direct numerical simulations of propagation of peakon waveforms. In addition, 3D exact and numerical peakon solutions including the rotationally symmetric and the nonrotationally symmetric ones are obtained, and we find that incompletely rotationally symmetric peakons can occur stably in completely rotationally symmetric DSE potentials. The 3D fundamental peakons can propagate stably in a certain range of potential parameters, but their stability may get worse with the loss of rotational symmetry. Exceptional points and exact peakons in n dimensions are also summarized.

Vortex chaoticons in thermal nonlocal nonlinear media.

This paper numerically investigates the propagation of Laguerre-Gaussian vortex beams launched in nonlocal nonlinear media, such as lead glass. Our results show that the propagation properties depend on the selection of beam parameters m and p, which represent the azimuthal and radial mode numbers. When p=0, these profiles can be stable solitons for m≤2, or break up and then form a set of single-hump profiles for m≥3, which are unbounded states with scattered remnants of the energy. However, for p≥1, the broken beams can evolve into vortex chaoticons, which exhibit both chaotic and solitonlike properties. The chaotic properties are determined by the positive Lyapunov exponents and spatial decoherence, while the solitonlike properties are demonstrated by the invariance of beam width and the interaction of beams in the form of quasielastic collisions. In addition, the power and orbital angular momentum of unbounded beam states both decay in propagation, while those of the chaoticons maintain their values well.

Controllable propagation paths of gap solitons.

This paper numerically investigates the evolution of solitons in an optical lattice with gradual longitudinal manipulation. We find that the stationary solutions (with added noise to the amplitude) keep their width, profile, and intensity very well, although the propagation path is continuously changing during the modulated propagation. Discontinuities in the modulation functions cause the scattering of the beam that may end the stable propagation. Our results reveal a method to control the trajectory of solitons by designed variation of the optical lattice waveguides. Interesting examples presented include the snakelike and spiraling solitons that both can be adaptively induced in sinusoidally and helically shaped optical lattices. The controlled propagation paths provide an excellent opportunity for various applications, including optical switches and signal transmission, among others.

Dynamics of soliton interaction solutions of the Davey-Stewartson I equation.

In this paper, we first modify the binary Darboux transformation to derive three types of soliton interaction solutions of the Davey-Stewartson I equation, namely the higher-order lumps, the localized rogue wave on a solitonic background, and the line rogue wave on a solitonic background. The uniform expressions of these solutions contain an arbitrary complex constant, which plays a key role in obtaining diverse interaction scenarios. The second-order dark-lump solution contains two hollows that undergo anomalous scattering after a head-on collision, and the minimum values of the two hollows evolve in time and reach the same asymptotic constant value 0 as t→±∞. The localized rogue wave on a solitonic background describes the occurrence of a waveform from the solitonic background, quickly evolving to a doubly localized wave, and finally retreating to the solitonic background. The line rogue wave on the solitonic background does not create an extreme wave at any instant of time, unlike the one on a constant background, which has a large amplitude at the intermediate time of evolution. For large t, the solitonic background has multiple parallel solitons possessing the same asymptotic velocities and heights. The obtained results improve our understanding of the generation mechanisms of rogue waves.

Symmetry-breaking bifurcations and ghost states in the fractional nonlinear Schrödinger equation with a PT-symmetric potential.

We report symmetry-breaking and restoring bifurcations of solitons in a fractional Schrödinger equation with cubic or cubic-quintic (CQ) nonlinearity and a parity-time-symmetric potential, which may be realized in optical cavities. Solitons are destabilized at the bifurcation point, and, in the case of CQ nonlinearity, the stability is restored by an inverse bifurcation. Two mutually conjugate branches of ghost states (GSs), with complex propagation constants, are created by the bifurcation, solely in the case of fractional diffraction. While GSs are not true solutions, direct simulations confirm that their shapes and results of their stability analysis provide a "blueprint" for the evolution of genuine localized modes in the system.

Metastable soliton necklaces supported by fractional diffraction and competing nonlinearities.

We demonstrate that the fractional cubic-quintic nonlinear Schrödinger equation, characterized by its Lévy index, maintains ring-shaped soliton clusters ("necklaces") carrying orbital angular momentum. They can be built, in the respective optical setting, as circular chains of fundamental solitons linked by a vortical phase field. We predict semi-analytically that the metastable necklace-shaped clusters persist, corresponding to a local minimum of an effective potential of interaction between adjacent solitons in the cluster. Systematic simulations corroborate that the clusters stay robust over extremely large propagation distances, even in the presence of strong random perturbations.

Nonlocal M-component nonlinear Schrödinger equations: Bright solitons, energy-sharing collisions, and positons.

The general set of nonlocal M-component nonlinear Schrödinger (nonlocal M-NLS) equations obeying the PT-symmetry and featuring focusing, defocusing, and mixed (focusing-defocusing) nonlinearities that has applications in nonlinear optics settings, is considered. First, the multisoliton solutions of this set of nonlocal M-NLS equations in the presence and in the absence of a background, particularly a periodic line wave background, are constructed. Then, we study the intriguing soliton collision dynamics as well as the interesting positon solutions on zero background and on a periodic line wave background. In particular, we reveal the fascinating shape-changing collision behavior similar to that of in the Manakov system but with fewer soliton parameters in the present setting. The standard elastic soliton collision also occurs for particular parameter choices. More interestingly, we show the possibility of such elastic soliton collisions even for defocusing nonlinearities. Furthermore, for the nonlocal M-NLS equations, the dependence of the collision characteristics on the speed of the solitons is analyzed. In the presence of a periodic line wave background, we notice that the soliton amplitude can be enhanced significantly, even for infinitesimal amplitude of the periodic line waves. In addition to these solutions, by considering the long-wavelength limit of the obtained soliton solutions with proper parameter constraints, higher-order positon solutions of the nonlocal M-NLS equations are derived. The background of periodic line waves also influences the wave profiles and amplitudes of the positons. Specifically, the positon amplitude can not only be enhanced but also be suppressed on the periodic line wave background of infinitesimal amplitude.

Soliton formation and stability under the interplay between parity-time-symmetric generalized Scarf-II potentials and Kerr nonlinearity.

We present an alternative type of parity-time (PT)-symmetric generalized Scarf-II potentials, which makes possible for non-Hermitian Hamiltonians in the classical linear Schrödinger system to possess fully real spectra with unique features such as the multiple PT-symmetric breaking behaviors and to support one-dimensional (1D) stable PT-symmetric solitons of power-law waveform, namely power-law solitons, in focusing Kerr-type nonlinear media. Moreover, PT-symmetric high-order solitons are also derived numerically in 1D and 2D settings. Around the exactly obtained nonlinear propagation constants, families of 1D and 2D localized nonlinear modes are also found numerically. The majority of fundamental nonlinear modes can still keep steady in general, whereas the 1D multipeak solitons and 2D vortex solitons are usually susceptible to suffering from instability. Likewise, similar results occur in the defocusing Kerr-nonlinear media. The obtained results will be useful for understanding the complex dynamics of nonlinear waves that form in PT-symmetric nonlinear media in other physical contexts.

Asymptotic dynamics of three-dimensional bipolar ultrashort electromagnetic pulses in an array of semiconductor carbon nanotubes.

We study the propagation of three-dimensional bipolar ultrashort electromagnetic pulses in an array of semiconductor carbon nanotubes at times much longer than the pulse duration, yet still shorter than the relaxation time in the system. The interaction of the electromagnetic field with the electronic subsystem of the medium is described by means of Maxwell's equations, taking into account the field inhomogeneity along the nanotube axis beyond the approximation of slowly varying amplitudes and phases. A model is proposed for the analysis of the dynamics of an electromagnetic pulse in the form of an effective equation for the vector potential of the field. Our numerical analysis demonstrates the possibility of a satisfactory description of the evolution of the pulse field at large times by means of a three-dimensional generalization of the sine-Gordon and double sine-Gordon equations.

Kink-type solutions of the SIdV equation and their properties.

We study the nonlinear integrable equation, u t + 2((u x u xx )/u) = ϵu xxx , which is invariant under scaling of dependent variable and was called the SIdV equation (see Sen et al. 2012 Commun. Nonlinear Sci. Numer. Simul. 17, 4115-4124 (doi:10.1016/j.cnsns.2012.03.001)). The order-n kink solution u [n] of the SIdV equation, which is associated with the n-soliton solution of the Korteweg-de Vries equation, is constructed by using the n-fold Darboux transformation (DT) from zero 'seed' solution. The kink-type solutions generated by the onefold, twofold and threefold DT are obtained analytically. The key features of these kink-type solutions are studied, namely their trajectories, phase shifts after collision and decomposition into separate single kink solitons.

Stable flat-top solitons and peakons in the PT-symmetric δ-signum potentials and nonlinear media.

We discover that the physically interesting PT-symmetric Dirac delta-function potentials can not only make sure that the non-Hermitian Hamiltonians admit fully-real linear spectra but also support stable peakons (nonlinear modes) in the Kerr nonlinear Schrödinger equation. For a specific form of the delta-function PT-symmetric potentials, the nonlinear model investigated in this paper is exactly solvable. However, for a class of PT-symmetric signum-function double-well potentials, a novel type of exact flat-top bright solitons can exist stably within a broad range of potential parameters. Intriguingly, the flat-top solitons can be characterized by the finite-order differentiable waveforms and admit the novel features differing from the usual solitons. The excitation features and the direction of transverse power flow of flat-top bright solitons are also explored in detail. These results are useful for the related experimental designs and applications in nonlinear optics and other related fields.

Super chirped rogue waves in optical fibers.

The super rogue wave dynamics in optical fibers are investigated within the framework of a generalized nonlinear Schrödinger equation containing group-velocity dispersion, Kerr and quintic nonlinearity, and self-steepening effect. In terms of the explicit rogue wave solutions up to the third order, we show that, for a rogue wave solution of order n, it can be shaped up as a single super rogue wave state with its peak amplitude 2n+1 times the background level, which results from the superposition of n(n+1)/2 Peregrine solitons. Particularly, we demonstrate that these super rogue waves involve a frequency chirp that is also localized in both time and space. The robustness of the super chirped rogue waves against white-noise perturbations as well as the possibility of generating them in a turbulent field is numerically confirmed, which anticipates their accessibility to experimental observation.

The loop rogue wave solutions for the Wadati-Konno-Ichikawa equation.

The first-order rogue wave solution with two arbitrary parameters of the Wadati-Konno-Ichikawa equation is generated based on the Darboux transformation and inverse hodograph transformation. The analyticity of first-order rogue wave solution is studied. A simple analysis shows that the parameter that denotes the amplitude of background wave plays an important role in controlling the analyticity of rogue wave solution. In particular, the rogue wave solution displays a loop-type profile when it is singular, and the general features of loop rogue waves are discussed in detail.

Optical solitons in media with focusing and defocusing saturable nonlinearity and a parity-time-symmetric external potential.

We report results for solitons in models of waveguides with focusing or defocusing saturable nonlinearity and a parity-time ([Formula: see text])-symmetric complex-valued external potential of the Scarf-II type. The model applies to the nonlinear wave propagation in graded-index optical waveguides with balanced gain and loss. We find both fundamental and multipole solitons for both focusing and defocusing signs of the saturable nonlinearity in such [Formula: see text]-symmetric waveguides. The dependence of the propagation constant on the soliton's power is presented for different strengths of the nonlinearity saturation, S The stability of fundamental, dipole, tripole and quadrupole solitons is investigated by means of the linear-stability analysis and direct numerical simulations of the corresponding (1+1)-dimensional nonlinear Schrödinger-type equation. The results show that the instability of the stationary solutions can be mitigated or completely suppressed, increasing the value of SThis article is part of the theme issue 'Dissipative structures in matter out of equilibrium: from chemistry, photonics and biology (part 1)'.

Stable dissipative optical vortex clusters by inhomogeneous effective diffusion.

We numerically show the generation of robust vortex clusters embedded in a two-dimensional beam propagating in a dissipative medium described by the generic cubic-quintic complex Ginzburg-Landau equation with an inhomogeneous effective diffusion term, which is asymmetrical in the two transverse directions and periodically modulated in the longitudinal direction. We show the generation of stable optical vortex clusters for different values of the winding number (topological charge) of the input optical beam. We have found that the number of individual vortex solitons that form the robust vortex cluster is equal to the winding number of the input beam. We have obtained the relationships between the amplitudes and oscillation periods of the inhomogeneous effective diffusion and the cubic gain and diffusion (viscosity) parameters, which depict the regions of existence and stability of vortex clusters. The obtained results offer a method to form robust vortex clusters embedded in two-dimensional optical beams, and we envisage potential applications in the area of structured light.