Numerical model for nonlinear standing waves and weak shocks in thermoviscous fluids.

Nonlinear standing waves in a one-dimensional tube are studied numerically by using a finite-difference algorithm. The numerical code models the acoustic field in resonators for homogeneous, thermoviscous fluids. Calculations are performed exclusively in the time domain, and all harmonic components are obtained by one resolution. The fully nonlinear differential equation is written in Lagrangian coordinates. It is solved without truncation. Effects of absorption are included. Displacement and pressure wave forms are calculated at different locations and results are shown for different excitation levels and tube lengths. Amplitude distributions along the resonator axis for every harmonic component are also evaluated. Simulations are performed for amplitudes ranging from linear to strongly nonlinear and weak shock. A very good concordance with classic experimental and analytical results is obtained.     

Collisions of unipolar subcycle pulses in a nonlinear resonantly absorbing medium

Collisions of unipolar subcycle pulses in a nonlinear resonant medium that coherently interact with it are studied theoretically. The dynamics of spatial polarization structures and population difference that the pulses induce in the medium are analyzed. A surprising feature is that the medium is capable of “remembering” the result of the interaction with the pulses and their collisions during times comparable to the polarization relaxation time. An analysis of the dynamics of light-induced structures makes it possible to judge the parameters of subcycle pulses at the times longer than the pulse duration, which, in the future, can be useful in their detection.     

Bessel beams of finite amplitude in absorbing fluids

Second-harmonic generation in a Bessel beam is investigated analytically, with emphasis on the effect of absorption. It is shown that absorption has a strong influence on the far-field beam profile. Numerical results are presented for higher harmonics and for waveform distortion in a Bessel beam that forms a shock.     

Dynamics of ultimately short pulses in partially absorbing media

Propagation of broad-band ultimately short light pulses in a partially absorbing medium is analyzed in the framework of the three-level model. Nonlinear wave equations are obtained describing propagation of light pulses in media with quadratic (all three transitions are allowed) or cubic (one of the transitions is forbidden) nonlinearity in the range of optical transparency or with the sine-Gordon-type nonlinearity in the region of absorption. Using the averaged variational principle, the approximate solutions of equations in the form of unipolar soliton-like signals are found and conditions of their transverse stability are determined. A stable propagation of a broad-band pulse is shown to be possible under conditions when monochromatic signals exhibit self-focusing.     

Amplitude and phase control of attosecond light pulses

We report the generation, compression, and delivery on target of ultrashort extreme-ultraviolet light pulses using external amplitude and phase control. Broadband harmonic radiation is first generated by focusing an infrared laser with a carefully chosen intensity into a gas cell containing argon atoms. The emitted light then goes through a hard aperture and a thin aluminum filter that selects a 30-eV bandwidth around a 30-eV photon energy and synchronizes all of the components, thereby enabling the formation of a train of almost Fourier-transform-limited single-cycle 170 attosecond pulses. Our experiment demonstrates a practical method for synthesizing and controlling attosecond waveforms.     

Generation of unipolar pulses in nonlinear media

Methods recently proposed for generating unipolar pulses in nonlinear media in terahertz and optical electromagnetic ranges are reviewed. Such pulses have nonzero “electric area” (time integral of the field strength over the entire duration of a pulse) and, correspondingly, a significant component of the field with zero frequency, thus exhibiting quasistatic properties. Effective generation of unipolar pulses would allow, e.g., transferring mechanical momentum to charged particles and, thereby, controlling the motion of wave packets of matter, which can be useful for compact accelerators of charged particles and for other applications.     

Amplitude death in nonlinear oscillators with indirect coupling

We investigate the effect of frequency mismatch in two indirectly coupled Rössler oscillators and Hindmarsh–Rose neuron model systems. While identical systems show in-phase or out-of-phase synchronization states when coupled through a dynamic environment, mismatch in the internal frequencies of the systems drives them to a fixed point state, i.e., amplitude death. There is a region in the parameter space of the frequency mismatch and coupling strength where system shows amplitude death. The numerical results of Rössler system are also experimentally verified using piece-wise Rössler circuits.     

Propagation of optical pulses in periodic nonlinear fibers

We study the conditions of formation and propagation of soliton pulses in a periodic two-mode nonlinear fiber with allowance for dispersion of the fiber material and intermode dispersion of interacting modes under the condition of their phase synchronism. State University, Ul’yanovsk, Russia. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 41, No. 8, pp. 1032–1042, August, 1998.     

Dynamics of optical pulses in periodic nonlinear fibers

Dynamics of a two-mode wave packet with strong linear and nonlinear (cross-modulation) coupling is investigated. The effect of the initial conditions of the pulse excitation on its further transformation is considered. The possibility to control the dispersion parameters of the wave packet by varying the initial conditions of its input is pointed out. The effective parameters of the dispersion and nonlinearity that govern the dynamics of an optical pulse in a periodic nonlinear fiber light guide are obtained.     

Amplitude and phase characterization of weak blue ultrashort pulses by downconversion

We present difference-frequency generation cross-correlation frequency-resolved optical gating, a new method of characterizing the amplitude and phase of weak ultrashort pulses in the blue spectral region. The method uses the spectrally resolved downconversion signal of the blue pulse and a fully characterized reference pulse with a lower center frequency. The amplitude and phase of the blue test pulse are retrieved from the corresponding spectrogram and electric field of the reference pulse with an interactive Fourier-transform algorithm.     

Invariants of nonlinear propagation of femtosecond pulses

We propose a transformation of the equation describing the propagation of femtosecond pulses with allowance for the dispersion of nonlinear response and linear dispersion of the second and third orders, which allows us to write the equation in a form convenient for numerical modeling. On the basis of this transformation, we obtain the invariants of nonlinear propagation containing information on the pulse phase. Some of the invariants obtained contain no information on the nonlinear addition to the permittivity of a transparent medium. The invariants obtained can be used for both checking the results of numerical experiments and analysis of interaction of the femtosecond pulse with the material. Moscow State University, Russia. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 42, No. 4, pp. 369–372, April 1999.     

Amplitude autocorrelation of femtosecond laser pulses using linear photogalvanic effect in sillenite crystals

We demonstrate excitation of the linear photogalvanic current in a Bi₁₂TiO₂₀ crystal by two orthogonally polarized femtosecond laser pulses with detecting the electrical current via charge accumulation on the sample electrodes. Such a setup was used to implement an interferometric autocorrelation technique for characterization of ultrashort light pulses. Integration of the detected current in femtosecond time domain leads to vanishing of a bipolar component of the photogalvanic current which arises due to a pulse chirping. The advantage of the proposed technique is that it produces the electric field correlation function directly without the need for data processing using a compact, robust, and non-expensive detector in the form of a photoconductive cell of a non-centrosymmetric crystal.     

On the nonlinear optics of few-cycle pulses

A brief review of the development of the nonlinear optics of few-cycle optical laser pulses is presented. Emphasis is placed on analyzing the soliton propagation modes of such pulses in the context of possible applications in optical data transmission systems.     

Amplitude and chirp characterization of high-power laser pulses in the 5-fs regime

Frequency-resolved optical gating (FROG) based on second-harmonic generation has been demonstrated to be capable of high-fidelity measurement of the electric-field envelope and of the temporal evolution of the instantaneous carrier frequency of 0.1-TW 5-fs pulses without the need for any correction for systematic experimental errors. At a 1-kHz repetition rate, pulse energies of a few microjoules are sufficient for reliable FROG characterization of pulses with durations down to the single-cycle regime. The results obtained reveal that carefully designed hollow-fiber chirped-mirror compressors are able to deliver high-power sub-10-fs pulses with a smooth Gaussianlike leading edge that has an intensity contrast of approximately 10(-2) .     

飞秒激光在晶体中传输的级联非线性过程

系统地回顾了有关级联过程导致的各种非线性效应的工作,指出了级联效应可导致不同光谱成分间出现能量转移现象,且二阶级联过程中产生的白光还能够提供种子光进而得到基于参量放大过程的宽带锥形辐射。在此基础上,进一步研究了入射的基频波长对于超连续白光能量转移效果及产生倍频效率的影响以及二阶级联过程引起的偏振调制现象,指出当入射波长越靠近相位匹配波长时倍频效率越高,发现二阶级联效应还可以引起显著的基频光偏振调制。     

飞秒激光在晶体中传输的级联非线性过程

系统地回顾了有关级联过程导致的各种非线性效应的工作,指出了级联效应可导致不同光谱成分间出现能量转移现象,且二阶级联过程中产生的白光还能够提供种子光进而得到基于参量放大过程的宽带锥形辐射。在此基础上,进一步研究了入射的基频波长对于超连续白光能量转移效果及产生倍频效率的影响以及二阶级联过程引起的偏振调制现象,指出当入射波长越靠近相位匹配波长时倍频效率越高,发现二阶级联效应还可以引起显著的基频光偏振调制。