Ray theory of the impulse response of randomly bent multimode fibres

A ray theory based on the time-independent Fokker-Planck equation and the integration of time along ray trajectories provides analytical expressions for the average arrival time and spread of optical pulses propagating in randomly distorted, multimode, optical fibres. A clear physical picture emerges from the theory. The analytical expressions obtained for t and t ² coincide with the ones obtained by Olshansky from coupled-mode theory. The t ³ and t ⁴ moments of the impulse response are also calculated. Simple closed-form formulae are given for the step-index slab. The coupling between all modes is effectively taken into account in our ray theory.On leave of absence at the Laboratoire des Signaux et Systèmes.