Localized modes in dissipative lattice media: an overview

We give an overview of recent theoretical studies of the dynamics of one- and two-dimensional spatial dissipative solitons in models based on the complex Ginzburg-Landau equations with the cubic-quintic combination of loss and gain terms, which include imaginary, real or complex spatially periodic potentials. The imaginary potential represents periodic modulation of the local loss and gain. It is shown that the effective gradient force, induced by the inhomogeneous loss distribution, gives rise to three generic propagation scenarios for one-dimensional dissipative solitons: transverse drift, persistent swing motion, and damped oscillations. When the lattice-average loss/gain value is zero, and the real potential has spatial parity opposite to that of the imaginary component, the respective complex potential is a realization of the parity-time symmetry. Under the action of lattice potentials of the latter type, one-dimensional solitons feature motion regimes in the form of the transverse drift and persistent swing. In the two-dimensional geometry, three types of axisymmetric radial lattices are considered, namely those based solely on the refractive-index modulation, or solely on the linear-loss modulation, or on a combination of both. The rotary motion of solitons in such axisymmetric potentials can be effectively controlled by varying the strength of the initial tangential kick.

Unbreakable PT symmetry of solitons supported by inhomogeneous defocusing nonlinearity

We consider bright solitons supported by a symmetric inhomogeneous defocusing nonlinearity growing rapidly enough toward the periphery of the medium, combined with an antisymmetric gain-loss profile. Despite the absence of any symmetric modulation of the linear refractive index, which is usually required to establish a parity-time (PT) symmetry in the form of a purely real spectrum of modes, we show that the PT symmetry is never broken in the present system, and that the system always supports stable bright solitons, i.e., fundamental and multi-pole ones. This fact is connected to the nonlinearizability of the underlying evolution equation. The increase of the gain-loss strength results, in lieu of the PT symmetry breaking, in merger of pairs of different soliton branches, such as fundamental and dipole, or tripole and quadrupole ones. The fundamental and dipole solitons remain stable at arbitrarily large values of the gain-loss coefficient.

Emulation of lossless exciton-polariton condensates by dual-core optical waveguides: stability, collective modes, and dark solitons

We propose a possibility to simulate the exciton-polariton (EP) system in the lossless limit, which is not currently available in semiconductor microcavities, by means of a simple optical dual-core waveguide, with one core carrying the nonlinearity and operating close to the zero-group-velocity-dispersion point, and the other core being linear and dispersive. Both two-dimensional (2D) and one-dimensional (1D) EP systems may be emulated by means of this optical setting. In the framework of this system, we find that, while the uniform state corresponding to the lower branch of the nonlinear dispersion relation is stable against small perturbations, the upper branch is always subject to the modulational instability. The stability and instability are verified by direct simulations too. We analyze collective excitations on top of the stable lower-branch state, which include a Bogoliubov-like gapless mode and a gapped one. Analytical results are obtained for the corresponding sound velocity and energy gap. The effect of a uniform phase gradient (superflow) on the stability is considered too, with a conclusion that the lower-branch state becomes unstable above a critical wave number of the flux. Finally, we demonstrate that the stable 1D state may carry robust dark solitons.

PT symmetry in optics beyond the paraxial approximation

The concept of the PT symmetry, originating from the quantum field theory, has been intensively investigated in optics, stimulated by the similarity between the Schrödinger equation and the paraxial wave equation governing the propagation of light in guiding structures. We go beyond the paraxial approximation and demonstrate, solving the full set of the Maxwell's equations for the light propagation in deeply subwavelength waveguides and periodic lattices with balanced gain and loss, that the PT symmetry may stay unbroken in this setting. Moreover, the PT symmetry in subwavelength guiding structures may be restored after being initially broken upon the increase of gain and loss. Critical gain/loss levels, at which the breakup and subsequent restoration of the PT symmetry occur, strongly depend on the scale of the structure.

Tunable nonlinear double-core PT-symmetric waveguides

We propose a scheme for creating a tunable, highly nonlinear defect in a one-dimensional photonic crystal with an embedded atomic cell filled by a mixture of two isotopes of three-level atoms. The defect creates an effective double-core waveguide. The induced refractive index for a probe field can be made parity-time (PT) symmetric by means of a proper combination of a control field and a Stark field; hence the complex defect potential obtained contains double-well real and linear imaginary parts. We also show that it is possible to form various stable nonlinear defect modes supported by the focusing nonlinearity of the system.

Radiating subdispersive fractional optical solitons

It was recently found [Fujioka et al., Phys. Lett. A 374, 1126 (2010)] that the propagation of solitary waves can be described by a fractional extension of the nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) equation which involves a temporal fractional derivative (TFD) of order α > 2. In the present paper, we show that there is also another fractional extension of the NLS equation which contains a TFD with α < 2, and in this case, the new equation describes the propagation of radiating solitons. We show that the emission of the radiation (when α < 2) is explained by resonances at various frequencies between the pulses and the linear modes of the system. It is found that the new fractional NLS equation can be derived from a suitable Lagrangian density, and a fractional Noether's theorem can be applied to it, thus predicting the conservation of the Hamiltonian, momentum and energy.

Discrete solitons and scattering of lattice waves in guiding arrays with a nonlinear PT-symmetric defect

Discrete fundamental and dipole solitons are constructed, in an exact analytical form, in an array of linear waveguides with an embedded PT-symmetric dimer, which is composed of two nonlinear waveguides carrying equal gain and loss. Fundamental solitons in tightly knit lattices, as well as all dipole modes, exist above a finite threshold value of the total power. However, the threshold vanishes for fundamental solitons in loosely knit lattices. The stability of the discrete solitons is investigated analytically by means of the Vakhitov-Kolokolov (VK) criterion, and, in the full form, via the computation of eigenvalues for perturbation modes. Fundamental and dipole solitons tend to be stable at smaller and larger values of the total power (norm), respectively. The increase of the strength of the coupling between the two defect-forming sites leads to strong expansion of the stability areas. The scattering problem for linear lattice waves impinging upon the defect is considered too.

Localized modes in mini-gaps opened by periodically modulated intersite coupling in two-dimensional nonlinear lattices

Spatially periodic modulation of the intersite coupling in two-dimensional (2D) nonlinear lattices modifies the eigenvalue spectrum by opening mini-gaps in it. This work aims to build stable localized modes in the new bandgaps. Numerical analysis shows that single-peak and composite two- and four-peak discrete static solitons and breathers emerge as such modes in certain parameter areas inside the mini-gaps of the 2D superlattice induced by the periodic modulation of the intersite coupling along both directions. The single-peak solitons and four-peak discrete solitons are stable in a part of their existence domain, while unstable stationary states (in particular, two-soliton complexes) may readily transform into robust localized breathers.

Quasi-energies, parametric resonances, and stability limits in ac-driven PT-symmetric systems

We introduce a simple model for implementing the concepts of quasi-energy and parametric resonances (PRs) in systems with the PT symmetry, i.e., a pair of coupled and mutually balanced gain and loss elements. The parametric (ac) forcing is applied through periodic modulation of the coefficient accounting for the coupling of the two degrees of freedom. The system may be realized in optics as a dual-core waveguide with the gain and loss applied to different cores, and the thickness of the gap between them subject to a periodic modulation. The onset and development of the parametric instability for a small forcing amplitude (V1) is studied in an analytical form. The full dynamical chart of the system is generated by systematic simulations. At sufficiently large values of the forcing frequency, ω, tongues of the parametric instability originate, with the increase of V1, as predicted by the analysis. However, the tongues following further increase of V1 feature a pattern drastically different from that in usual (non-PT) parametrically driven systems: instead of bending down to larger values of the dc coupling constant, V0, they maintain a direction parallel to the V1 axis. The system of the parallel tongues gets dense with the decrease of ω, merging into a complex small-scale structure of alternating regions of stability and instability. The cases of ω-->0 and ω-->∞ are studied analytically by means of the adiabatic and averaging approximation, respectively. The cubic nonlinearity, if added to the system, alters the picture, destabilizing many originally robust dynamical regimes, and stabilizing some which were unstable.

Multisoliton Newton's cradles and supersolitons in regular and parity-time-symmetric nonlinear couplers

We demonstrate the existence of stable collective excitation in the form of "supersolitons" propagating through chains of solitons with alternating signs (i.e., Newton's cradles built of solitons) in nonlinear optical couplers, including the parity-time-symmetric (PT-symmetric) version thereof. In the regular coupler, stable supersolitons are created in the cradles composed of both symmetric solitons and asymmetric ones with alternating polarities. Collisions between moving supersolitons are investigated too, by means of direct simulations in both the regular and PT-symmetric couplers.

Breathing solitary-pulse pairs in a linearly coupled system

It is shown that pairs of solitary pulses (SPs) in a linearly coupled system with opposite group velocity dispersions form robust breathing bound states. The system can be realized by temporal-modulation coupling of SPs with different carrier frequencies propagating in the same medium, or by coupling of SPs in a dual-core waveguide. Broad SP pairs are produced in a virtually exact form by means of the variational approximation. Strong nonlinearity tends to destroy the periodic evolution of the SP pairs.

Creation of two-dimensional composite solitons in spin-orbit-coupled self-attractive Bose-Einstein condensates in free space

It is commonly known that two-dimensional mean-field models of optical and matter waves with cubic self-attraction cannot produce stable solitons in free space because of the occurrence of collapse in the same setting. By means of numerical analysis and variational approximation, we demonstrate that the two-component model of the Bose-Einstein condensate with the spin-orbit Rashba coupling and cubic attractive interactions gives rise to solitary-vortex complexes of two types: semivortices (SVs, with a vortex in one component and a fundamental soliton in the other), and mixed modes (MMs, with topological charges 0 and ±1 mixed in both components). These two-dimensional composite modes can be created using the trapping harmonic-oscillator (HO) potential, but remain stable in free space, if the trap is gradually removed. The SVs and MMs realize the ground state of the system, provided that the self-attraction in the two components is, respectively, stronger or weaker than the cross attraction between them. The SVs and MMs which are not the ground states are subject to a drift instability. In free space (in the absence of the HO trap), modes of both types degenerate into unstable Townes solitons when their norms attain the respective critical values, while there is no lower existence threshold for the stable modes. Moving free-space stable solitons are also found in the present non-Galilean-invariant system, up to a critical velocity. Collisions between two moving solitons lead to their merger into a single one.

Soliton gyroscopes in media with spatially growing repulsive nonlinearity

We find that the recently introduced model of self-trapping supported by a spatially growing strength of a repulsive nonlinearity gives rise to robust vortex-soliton tori, i.e., three-dimensional vortex solitons, with topological charges S≥1. The family with S=1 is completely stable, while the one with S=2 has alternating regions of stability and instability. The families are nearly exactly reproduced in an analytical form by the Thomas-Fermi approximation. Unstable states with S=2 and 3 split into persistently rotating pairs or triangles of unitary vortices. Application of a moderate torque to the vortex torus initiates a persistent precession mode, with the torus' axle moving along a conical surface. A strong torque heavily deforms the vortex solitons, but, nonetheless, they restore themselves with the axle oriented according to the vectorial addition of angular momenta.

Holding spatial solitons in a pumped cavity with the help of nonlinear potentials

We introduce a one-dimensional model of a cavity with the Kerr nonlinearity and saturated gain designed so as to hold solitons in the state of shuttle motion. The solitons are always unstable in the cavity bounded by the usual potential barriers, due to accumulation of noise generated by the linear gain. Complete stabilization of the shuttling soliton is achieved if the linear barrier potentials are replaced by nonlinear ones, which trap the soliton, being transparent to the radiation. The removal of the noise from the cavity is additionally facilitated by an external ramp potential. The stable dynamical regimes are found numerically, and their basic properties are explained analytically.

Buffering and trapping ultrashort optical pulses in concatenated Bragg gratings

Strong retardation of ultrashort optical pulses, including their deceleration and stoppage in the form of Bragg solitons in a cascaded Bragg grating (BG) structure, is proposed. The manipulations of the pulses are carried out, using nonlinear effects, in a chirped BG segment which is linked, via a defect, to a uniform grating. The storage of the ultrashort pulses is shown to be very robust with respect to variations of the input field intensity, suggesting the feasibility of storing ultrafast optical pulses in such a structure. Physical estimates are produced for the BGs written in silicon.

Stability boundary and collisions of two-dimensional solitons in PT-symmetric couplers with the cubic-quintic nonlinearity

We introduce one- and two-dimensional (1D and 2D) models of parity-time (PT)-symmetric couplers with the mutually balanced linear gain and loss applied to the two cores and cubic-quintic (CQ) nonlinearity acting in each one. The 2D and 1D models may be realized in dual-core optical wave guides in the spatiotemporal and spatial domains, respectively. Stationary solutions for PT-symmetric solitons in these systems reduce to their counterparts in the usual coupler. The most essential problem is the stability of the solitons, which become unstable against symmetry breaking with the increase of the energy (norm) and retrieve the stability at still larger energies. The boundary value of the intercore-coupling constant, above which the solitons are completely stable, is found by means of an analytical approximation, based on the cw (zero-dimensional) counterpart of the system. The approximation demonstrates good agreement with numerical findings for the 1D and 2D solitons. Numerical results for the stability limits of the 2D solitons are obtained by means of the computation of eigenvalues for small perturbations, and verified in direct simulations. Although large parts of the soliton families are unstable, the instability is quite weak. Collisions between 2D solitons in the PT-symmetric coupler are studied by means of simulations. Outcomes of the collisions are inelastic but not destructive, as they do not break the PT symmetry.

Mobility of solitons in one-dimensional lattices with the cubic-quintic nonlinearity

We investigate mobility regimes for localized modes in the discrete nonlinear Schrödinger (DNLS) equation with the cubic-quintic on-site terms. Using the variational approximation, the largest soliton's total power admitting progressive motion of kicked discrete solitons is predicted by comparing the effective kinetic energy with the respective Peierls-Nabarro (PN) potential barrier. The prediction, for the DNLS model with the cubic-only nonlinearity too, demonstrates a reasonable agreement with numerical findings. A small self-focusing quintic term quickly suppresses the mobility. In the case of the competition between the cubic self-focusing and quintic self-defocusing terms, we identify parameter regions where odd and even fundamental modes exchange their stability, involving intermediate asymmetric modes. In this case, stable solitons can be set in motion by kicking, so as to let them pass the PN barrier. Unstable solitons spontaneously start oscillatory or progressive motion, if they are located, respectively, below or above a mobility threshold. Collisions between moving discrete solitons, at the competing nonlinearities frame, are studied too.

Accessible solitons in complex Ginzburg-Landau media

We construct dissipative spatial solitons in one- and two-dimensional (1D and 2D) complex Ginzburg-Landau (CGL) equations with spatially uniform linear gain; fully nonlocal complex nonlinearity, which is proportional to the integral power of the field times the harmonic-oscillator (HO) potential, similar to the model of "accessible solitons;" and a diffusion term. This CGL equation is a truly nonlinear one, unlike its actually linear counterpart for the accessible solitons. It supports dissipative spatial solitons, which are found in a semiexplicit analytical form, and their stability is studied semianalytically, too, by means of the Routh-Hurwitz criterion. The stability requires the presence of both the nonlocal nonlinear loss and diffusion. The results are verified by direct simulations of the nonlocal CGL equation. Unstable solitons spontaneously spread out into fuzzy modes, which remain loosely localized in the effective complex HO potential. In a narrow zone close to the instability boundary, both 1D and 2D solitons may split into robust fragmented structures, which correspond to excited modes of the 1D and 2D HOs in the complex potentials. The 1D solitons, if shifted off the center or kicked, feature persistent swinging motion.

Generation of tightly compressed solitons with a tunable frequency shift in Raman-free fibers

Optimization of the compression of input N-solitons into robust ultra-narrow fundamental solitons, with a tunable up- or downshifted frequency, is proposed in photonic crystal fibers free of the Raman effect. Due to the absence of the Raman self-frequency shift, these fundamental solitons continue propagation, maintaining the acquired frequency, once separated from the input N soliton's temporal slot. A universal optimal value of the relative strength of the third-order dispersion is found, providing the strongest compression of the fundamental soliton is found. It depends only on the order of the injected N-soliton. The largest compression degree significantly exceeds the analytical prediction supplied by the Satsuma-Yajima formula. The mechanism behind this effect, which remains valid in the presence of the self-steepening, is explained.

Discrete localized modes supported by an inhomogeneous defocusing nonlinearity

We report that infinite and semi-infinite lattices with spatially inhomogeneous self-defocusing (SDF) onsite nonlinearity, whose strength increases rapidly enough toward the lattice periphery, support stable unstaggered (UnST) discrete bright solitons, which do not exist in lattices with the spatially uniform SDF nonlinearity. The UnST solitons coexist with stable staggered (ST) localized modes, which are always possible under the defocusing onsite nonlinearity. The results are obtained in a numerical form and also by means of variational approximation (VA). In the semi-infinite (truncated) system, some solutions for the UnST surface solitons are produced in an exact form. On the contrary to surface discrete solitons in uniform truncated lattices, the threshold value of the norm vanishes for the UnST solitons in the present system. Stability regions for the novel UnST solitons are identified. The same results imply the existence of ST discrete solitons in lattices with the spatially growing self-focusing nonlinearity, where such solitons cannot exist either if the nonlinearity is homogeneous. In addition, a lattice with the uniform onsite SDF nonlinearity and exponentially decaying intersite coupling is introduced and briefly considered. Via a similar mechanism, it may also support UnST discrete solitons. The results may be realized in arrayed optical waveguides and collisionally inhomogeneous Bose-Einstein condensates trapped in deep optical lattices. A generalization for a two-dimensional system is briefly considered.

Trapping of light in solitonic cavities and its role in the supercontinuum generation

We demonstrate that the fission of higher-order N-solitons with a subsequent ejection of fundamental quasi-solitons creates cavities formed by a pair of solitary waves with dispersive light trapped between them. As a result of multiple reflections of the trapped light from the bounding solitons which act as mirrors, they bend their trajectories and collide. In the spectral domain, the two solitons receive blue and red wavelength shifts, and the spectrum of the trapped light alters as well. This phenomenon strongly affects spectral characteristics of the generated supercontinuum. Consideration of the system's parameters which affect the creation of the cavity reveals possibilities of predicting and controlling soliton-soliton collisions induced by multiple reflections of the trapped light.

Bright solitons from the nonpolynomial Schrödinger equation with inhomogeneous defocusing nonlinearities

Extending the recent work on models with spatially nonuniform nonlinearities, we study bright solitons generated by the nonpolynomial self-defocusing (SDF) nonlinearity in the framework of the one-dimensional (1D) Muñoz-Mateo-Delgado (MM-D) equation (the 1D reduction of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation with the SDF nonlinearity), with the local strength of the nonlinearity growing at |x|→∞ faster than |x|. We produce numerical solutions and analytical ones, obtained by means of the Thomas-Fermi approximation, for nodeless ground states and for excited modes with one, two, three and four nodes, in two versions of the model, with steep (exponential) and mild (algebraic) nonlinear-modulation profiles. In both cases, the ground states and the single-node ones are completely stable, while the stability of the higher-order modes depends on their norm (in the case of the algebraic modulation, they are fully unstable). Unstable states spontaneously evolve into their stable lower-order counterparts.

Solvable model for solitons pinned to a parity-time-symmetric dipole

We introduce the simplest one-dimensional nonlinear model with parity-time (PT) symmetry, which makes it possible to find exact analytical solutions for localized modes ("solitons"). The PT-symmetric element is represented by a pointlike (δ-functional) gain-loss dipole ~δ'(x), combined with the usual attractive potential ~δ(x). The nonlinearity is represented by self-focusing (SF) or self-defocusing (SDF) Kerr terms, both spatially uniform and localized. The system can be implemented in planar optical waveguides. For the sake of comparison, also introduced is a model with separated δ-functional gain and loss, embedded into the linear medium and combined with the δ-localized Kerr nonlinearity and attractive potential. Full analytical solutions for pinned modes are found in both models. The exact solutions are compared with numerical counterparts, which are obtained in the gain-loss-dipole model with the δ' and δ functions replaced by their Lorentzian regularization. With the increase of the dipole's strength γ, the single-peak shape of the numerically found mode, supported by the uniform SF nonlinearity, transforms into a double peak. This transition coincides with the onset of the escape instability of the pinned soliton. In the case of the SDF uniform nonlinearity, the pinned modes are stable, keeping the single-peak shape.

Inversion and tight focusing of Airy pulses under the action of third-order dispersion

By means of direct simulations and theoretical analysis, we study the nonlinear propagation of truncated Airy pulses in an optical fiber exhibiting both anomalous second-order and strong positive third-order dispersions (TOD). It is found that the Airy pulse first reaches a finite-size focal area as determined by the relative strength of the two dispersion terms, and then undergoes an inversion transformation such that it continues to travel with an opposite acceleration. The system notably features tight focusing if the TOD is a dominant factor. These effects are partially reduced by Kerr nonlinearity.