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M Soljacic

Publications and source records attributed to M Soljacic.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Eliminating the transverse instabilities of kerr solitons

We show analytically, numerically, and experimentally that a transversely stable one-dimensional [(1+1)D] bright Kerr soliton can exist in a 3D bulk medium. The transverse instability of the soliton is completely eliminated if it is made sufficiently incoherent along the transverse dimension. We derive a criterion for the threshold of transverse instability that links the nonlinearity to the largest transverse correlation distance for which the 1D soliton is stable.

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PubMed2000

Modulation instability and pattern formation in spatially incoherent light beams.

We report on the experimental observation of modulation instability of partially spatially incoherent light beams in noninstantaneous nonlinear media and show that in such systems patterns can form spontaneously from noise. Incoherent modulation instability occurs above a specific threshold that depends on the coherence properties (correlation distance) of the wave packet and leads to a periodic train of one-dimensional filaments. At a higher value of nonlinearity, the incoherent one-dimensional filaments display a two-dimensional instability and break up into self-ordered arrays of light spots. This discovery of incoherent pattern formation reflects on many other nonlinear systems beyond optics. It implies that patterns can form spontaneously (from noise) in diverse nonlinear many-body systems involving weakly correlated particles, such as atomic gases at (or near) Bose-Einstein condensation temperatures and electrons in semiconductors at the vicinity of the quantum Hall regime.

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PubMed2000

Bright spatial solitons on a partially incoherent background

We present the first observation of incoherent antidark spatial solitons in noninstantaneous nonlinear media. This new class of soliton states involves bright solitons on a partially incoherent background of infinite extent. In the case where the nonlinearity is of the Kerr type, their existence is demonstrated analytically by means of an exact solution. Computer simulations and experiments indicate that these incoherent antidark solitons can propagate in a stable fashion provided that the spatial coherence of their background is reduced below the incoherent modulation instability threshold.

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PubMed2000

Cantor set fractals from solitons

We show how a nonlinear system that supports solitons can be driven to generate exact (regular) Cantor set fractals. As an example, we use numerical simulations to demonstrate the formation of Cantor set fractals by temporal optical solitons. This fractal formation occurs in a cascade of nonlinear optical fibers through the dynamical evolution from a single input soliton.

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PubMed2000

Composite multihump vector solitons carrying topological charge

We propose composite solitons carrying topological charge: multicomponent two dimensional [ (2+1)D] vector (Manakov-like) solitons for which at least one component carries topological charge. These multimode solitons can have a single hump or exhibit a multihump structure. The "spin" carried by these multimode composite solitons suggests 3D soliton interactions in which the particlelike behavior includes spin, in addition to effective mass, linear, and angular momenta.

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PubMed2000

Self-similarity and fractals in soliton-supporting systems

We describe a principle that can be used to generate self-similarity and fractals in almost any nonlinear system in nature that supports solitons, given that some proper nonadiabatic conditions are met. We illustrate our idea on a particular optics example that also theoretically demonstrates fractals in nonlinear optics.

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PubMed2000

Self-trapping of "necklace-ring" beams in self-focusing kerr media

Recently, we suggested a type of self-trapped optical beams that can propagate in a stable form in (2+1)D self-focusing Kerr media: Necklace-ring beams [M. Soljacic, S. Sears, and M. Segev, Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 4851 (1998)]. These self-trapped necklaces slowly expand their ring diameter as they propagate as a result of a net radial force that adjacent "pearls" (azimuthal spots) exert on each other. Here, we revisit the self-trapped necklace beams and investigate their properties analytically and numerically. Specifically, we use two different approaches and find analytic expressions for the propagation dynamics of the necklace beams. We show that the expansion dynamics can be controlled and stopped for more than 40 diffraction lengths, making it possible to start thinking about interaction-collision phenomena between self-trapped necklaces and related soliton effects. Such self-trapped necklace-ring beams should also be observable in all other nonlinear systems described by the cubic (2+1)D nonlinear Shrodinger equation-in almost all nonlinear systems in nature that describe envelope waves.

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