Nonlinear Optics in Guided Geometries - Abstract

Bandelow, Uwe

Solitary wave solutions for few-cycle optical pulses

The well-established theory of envelope equations is applicable if the width of pulses is much bigger than the wavelength of the underlying carrier wave. For very short pulses these envelope equations are no longer appropriate as the frequency spectrum is widened too much. Ultrashort pulses even contain only a few optical cycles, and corresponding mathematical models are rare. We consider the propagation of ultrashort optical pulses in nonlinear dispersive media without using slow envelope approximations.
In the frame of short pulse equations we have found a family of ultrashort traveling-pulse solutions of Maxwell equations in a Kerr medium within the anomalous dispersion regime. We directly observed a continuous transition between envelope and non-envelope solitons and obtained the shortest possible pulse shape and duration in a given medium.
Coauthors: Sh. Amiranashvili and A.G. Vladimirov
Acknowledgement: This work was supported by the DFG Research Center MATHEON under project D 14.