Many-body interaction in fast soliton collisions.

We study n-pulse interaction in fast collisions of N solitons of the cubic nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) equation in the presence of generic weak nonlinear loss. We develop a generalized reduced model that yields the contribution of the n-pulse interaction to the amplitude shift for collisions in the presence of weak (2m+1)-order loss, for any n and m. We first employ the reduced model and numerical solution of the perturbed NLS equation to analyze soliton collisions in the presence of septic loss (m=3).

Diverging probability-density functions for flat-top solitary waves.

We investigate the statistics of flat-top solitary wave parameters in the presence of weak multiplicative dissipative disorder. We consider first propagation of solitary waves of the cubic-quintic nonlinear Schrödinger equation (CQNLSE) in the presence of disorder in the cubic nonlinear gain. We show by a perturbative analytic calculation and by Monte Carlo simulations that the probability-density function (PDF) of the amplitude eta exhibits loglognormal divergence near the maximum possible amplitude eta(m), a behavior that is similar to the one observed earlier for disorder in the linear gain [A.

Optimized multiemitter beams for free-space optical communications through turbulent atmosphere.

Using laser beams with less than perfect spatial coherence is an effective way of reducing scintillations in free-space optical communication links. We report a proof-of-principle experiment that quantifies this concept for a particular type of a partially coherent beam. In our scaled model of a free-space optical communication link, the beam is composed of several partially overlapping fundamental Gaussian beams that are mutually incoherent.

Scintillation index for two Gaussian laser beams with different wavelengths in weak atmospheric turbulence.

We study the propagation of the two lowest-order Gaussian laser beams with different wavelengths in weak atmospheric turbulence. Using the Rytov approximation and assuming a slow detector, we calculate the longitudinal and radial components of the scintillation index for a typical free-space laser communication setup. We find the optimal configuration of the two laser beams with respect to the longitudinal scintillation index.

Effects of dissipative disorder on front formation in pattern forming systems.

We study the effects of weak disorder in the linear gain coefficient on front formation in pattern forming systems described by the cubic-quintic nonlinear Schrödinger equation. We calculate the statistics of the front amplitude and position. We show that the distribution of the front amplitude has a loglognormal diverging form at the maximum possible amplitude and that the distribution of the front position has a lognormal tail.

Log-normal distribution of pulse amplitudes due to Raman cross talk in wavelength division multiplexing soliton transmission.

The effect of delayed Raman response on soliton collisions in wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) transmission systems is investigated. Taking into account the stochastic nature of pulse sequences in different frequency channels and the Raman-induced cross talk, it is shown that the soliton amplitude is a random variable with a log-normal distribution. Moreover, the Raman-induced self-frequency shift and cross-frequency shift are also random variables with log-normal-like distributions.

Interchannel interaction of optical solitons.

We study interaction between two solitons from different frequency channels propagating in an optical fiber. The interaction may be viewed as an inelastic collision, in which energy is lost to continuous radiation due to small but finite third order dispersion. We develop a perturbation theory with two small parameters: the third order dispersion coefficient d(3), and the reciprocal of the interchannel frequency difference, 1/beta.

Phase ordering with a global conservation law: Ostwald ripening and coalescence.

Globally conserved phase ordering dynamics is investigated in systems with short range correlations at t=0. A Ginzburg-Landau equation with a global conservation law is employed as the phase field model. The conditions are found under which the sharp-interface limit of this equation is reducible to the area-preserving motion by curvature.