Optical Solitons: Theoretical Challenges and Industrial Perspectives: Les Houches Workshop, September 28 – October 2, 1998 (Centre de Physique des Houches, 12)

This book presents an overview of recent theoretical and experimental advances in the field of optical solitons, ranging from the mathematical foundations of integrability theory to the rapidly evolving technology of fiber soliton-based telecommunication systems. The subjects covered in the book can be broadly grouped into four main categories: optical soliton theory, fiber soliton telecommunications, optical soliton generation methods, and all-optical information processing via spatial solitons. This book should provide an interesting reference both for postgraduate students starting their research in the field, and researchers actively involved in nonlinear optics and optical communications. Front Matter....Pages I-XVII Fundamentals of Optical Soliton Theory in Fibers....Pages 1-18 Hamiltonian Theory of Bäcklund Transformations....Pages 19-29 Stability of Solitons....Pages 31-50 Chaotic Dynamics of Optical Solitons....Pages 51-62 Variationalism and Empirio-Criticism. (Exact and Variational Approaches to Fibre Optics Equations)....Pages 63-71 Propagation of Optical Pulses in Nonlinear Systems with Varying Dispersion....Pages 73-89 Dispersion-Managed Solitons....Pages 91-115 Dispersion-Managed Solitons: Application to Terabit/s Transmission Over Transoceanic Distances....Pages 117-146 Nonlinear Pulses in Ultra-Fast Optical Communications....Pages 147-169 Soliton Wavelength-Division-Multiplexing Systems: From Numerical Design to Recirculating Loop Experiments....Pages 171-182 Mode-Locked Fiber Ring Lasers and Fiber Ring Memories....Pages 183-213 Modulational Instabilities in Passive Cavities: Theory and Experiment....Pages 215-231 Recent Developments in the Theory of Optical Gap Solitons....Pages 233-248 Vector Modulational Instabilities and Soliton Experiments....Pages 249-263 Transient Raman Amplification....Pages 265-281 Self-Structuration of Three-Wave Dissipative Solitons in CW-Pumped Optical Cavities....Pages 283-292 The Description of the Ultrashort Pulse Propagation in Non-Linear Media Under Quasi-Resonance Condition....Pages 293-312 Bright Spatial Soliton Interactions....Pages 313-334 Spatial Solitons in Saturating Nonlinear Materials....Pages 335-348 Discrete Solitons in Nonlinear Waveguide Arrays....Pages 349-365 Solitons in Cavities with Quadratic Nonlinearities....Pages 367-384 Back Matter....Pages 385-385 1 2 V. E. Zakharov and S. Wabnitz 1 L. D. Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics, 2 Kosygin Str. , 117334 Moscow, Russia 2 Laboratoire de Physique, University of Bourgogne, 9 avenue A. Savary, 21078 Dijon, France After about a quarter of a century since the first theoretical predictions of op­ tical solitons, the industrial application of the optical soliton concept is near to reality in the booming field of modern telecommunications, where the de­ mand for high-speed data transmission and routing is of ever-growing. This book contains a set of lectures that were presented at a Les Houches school on optical solitons in September 1998. The school was successful in gathering among the lecturers most of the well-recognized world leaders in the field of optical solitons. A variety of different aspects of research into optical solitons was exposed in the lectures, ranging from the mathematical fundations of integrability theory to the rapidly evolving technological advances of fiber soliton-based telecommu­ nication systems. The overall impression that the participants and the students received from the school is that this field of research is an excellent example of the rapid transfer that occurs nowadays from basic science to the technological implementations of the first principles. The subjects that were covered by the lectures can be broadly grouped into four main categories: optical soliton the­ ory, fiber soliton telecommunications, optical soliton generation methods, and all-optical information processing via spatial solitons.