Dynamics of optical pulses in a dispersive chiral medium

The dynamics of frequency-modulated pulses in an isotropic nonreciprocal chiral medium is studied. It is shown that the discrepancy between the group velocities and carrier frequencies of the circular components of the pulse causes it to split up both along the fiber and in the spectral domain. The strong dependence of the material parameters on the pulse frequency may lead to the asymmetric dynamics of the electric and magnetic fields of the pulse in different frequency intervals. For both components of the wave field, envelopes moving with a supraluminal speed may arise.     

Dynamics of solitons in periodic systems with different nonlinear media

To analyze pulse dynamics in an optical system consisting of a periodic sequence of nonlinear media, a composite model is used. It includes a model of the resonance interaction of an ultrashort light pulse with the energy transition of the medium with allowance made for an upper level pump and an almost integrable model that describes the propagation of the light field in the other medium with a cubic nonlinearity and dispersion. Additional allowance is made for losses and other kinds of interaction by introducing perturbation terms. On the bases of the inverse scattering transform and perturbation theory, a simple method for analyzing specific features of soliton evolution in periodic systems of this kind is developed. It is used to describe various modes of soliton evolution in such a system, including chaotic dynamics.     

Relaxation dynamics of a broadband nanosecond acoustic pulse in a bubbly medium

The first experimental observation of the propagation dynamics of a short broadband acoustic pulse in a resonance medium with gas bubbles is carried out. The probing pulse is generated using the optoacoustic effect. It is shown that the theory of short pulse propagation in media with generalized resonance relaxation adequately and accurately describes the dynamics of short pulse dispersion. A possibility to determine the relaxation and resonance parameters of media by the pulsed testing technique is demonstrated.     

共振光子晶体中Laue孤子传播的动力学行为

从理论上研究了Laue孤子传播的动力学行为，并通过数值模拟验证了这些行为.结果表明，由于非线性衍射，入射脉冲会分裂产生四种模式，其中产生的Laue孤子的传播行为与一般共振介质中孤子的传播行为相似.     

Nonlinear processes in media with an acoustic hysteresis and the problems of dynamic interaction between piles and earth foundation

Evolution of a pulsed disturbance in a nonlinear medium whose properties irreversibly vary in the course of wave propagation is studied. Equations describing the propagation process are obtained. It is demonstrated that the waveform distortion and the dynamics of the field and energy characteristics of a signal noticeably differ from those observed in conventional nonlinear media. New nonlinear equations describing a pulse in a medium with relaxation of its nonlinear properties are derived. A finite “delay time” for irreversible processes is introduced in the defining equation. The shape of a pulse reflected from the boundary between an ordinary medium and a nonlinear hereditary medium is calculated. It is demonstrated that, in the case of a fixed relation between the peak pressure in the incident pulse and the ratio of linear impedances of the two media, a total transmission of the trailing edge of the pulse into the compressed medium occurs. Possible applications of the results to topical construction problems are discussed.     

Mode-locked semiconductor disk lasers with weakly saturated absorbers

The effect of absorber saturation on pulse shaping was studied both numerically and experimentally in a semiconductor disk laser. It was found that steady-state mode locking can be achieved even with very weak saturation of the absorber when the pulse energy is well below the saturation energy of absorption. The study discloses for the first time the direct impact of absorber modulation depth on the pulse width. Numerical analysis confirms that partial bleaching of absorption is adequate for formation of stable mode locking in SDLs. The fast gain dynamics of the semiconductor medium approach the dynamics of a slow gain medium at low pulse energies and high repetition rates with a pulse period much shorter than the gain recovery time. The presented results are of practical importance for multigigahertz repetition rate lasers, indicating that sufficient pulse shaping can occur when the saturable absorber is not fully bleached.     

Electromagnetically induced transparency; writing, storing, and reading short optical pulses

The spatiotemporal propagation dynamics of a weak probe pulse in an optically dense medium of three-level atoms is studied in the adiabatic approximation under conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency. The atomic coherence induced at the dipole-forbidden transitions is found to be spatially localized. This effect is used for the analysis of the reversible writing (reading) of short optical pulses. The method of pulse time reversal is suggested.     

Complex spiral wave dynamics in a spatially distributed ionic model of cardiac electrical activity

This study presents computations and analysis of the dynamics of reentrant spiral waves in a realistic model of cardiac electrical activity, incorporating the Beeler-Reuter equations into a two-dimensional cable model. In this medium, spiral waves spontaneously break up, but may be stabilized by shortening the excitation pulse duration through an acceleration of the dynamics of the calcium current. We describe the breakup of reentrant waves based on the presence of slow recovery fronts within the medium. This concept is introduced using examples from pulse circulation around a ring and extended to two-dimensional propagation. We define properties of the restitution and dispersion relations that are associated with slow recovery fronts and promote spiral breakup. The role of slow recovery fronts is illustrated with concrete examples from numerical simulations. (c) 1996 American Institute of Physics.     

On the nonlinear propagation of few-cycle pulses in a uniaxial crystal

The soliton-like dynamics of few-cycle optical pulses propagating in a uniaxial crystal at an arbitrary angle to the optic axis is analytically studied. Solutions describing the one-dimensional dynamics of pulses representing coupled states of the ordinary and extraordinary field components are analyzed. The ordinary component can contain an arbitrary number (down to one period) of optical oscillations, whereas the extraordinary component is a unipolar video pulse. The effect of small-scale transverse perturbations on the propagation of such pulses is considered. Regions of values of parameters of the medium and the pulse in which the propagation is stable are found. The spectrum of the ordinary component is shown to substantially depend on the sign of the birefringence of the crystal as well as on the angle at which the pulse propagates with respect to the optic axis.     

New class of extremely short electromagnetic solitons

A physical realization is presented for the integrable modified sine-Gordon equation. In this case, this equation describes the propagation of an extremely short vector electromagnetic pulse in the system of asymmetric quantum objects that have permanent dipole moments in the self-energy states. Using soliton solutions for ordinary and extraordinary components, new regimes of the dynamics of the pulse and medium that are specific only to asymmetric media have been found.     

Self-focusing and defocusing of self-similar π pulses in an amplifying two-level medium

The effect of transverse perturbations on the propagation of electromagnetic π pulses in an amplifying two-level medium is studied. The cases of quasi-monochromatic and extremely short pulses are considered. The equations describing the behavior of the transverse size of the pulse during its propagation in the medium are derived. It is shown that, if the ratios of the diffraction length to the length of dispersion spreading are smaller than certain critical values, self-focusing regimes are realized for both types of pulses. Otherwise, at a finite distance, blowup of defocusing occurs, after which the amplified pulse propagates as if it is a one-dimensional pulse, with the velocity equal to the velocity of light in vacuum. Similarities and distinctions in the dynamics of propagation of extremely short and quasi-monochromatic pulses are indicated.     

Temporal dynamics of high repetition rate pulsed single longitudinal mode dye laser

Theoretical and experimental studies of temporal dynamics of grazing incidence grating (GIG) cavity, single-mode dye laser pumped by high repetition rate copper vapour laser (CVL) are presented. Spectral chirp of the dye laser as they evolve in the cavity due to transient phase dynamics of the amplifier gain medium is studied. Effect of grating efficiency, focal spot size, pump power and other cavity parameters on the temporal behaviour of narrow band dye laser such as build-up time, pulse shape and pulse width is studied using the four level dye laser rate equation and photon evolution equation. These results are compared with experimental observations of GIG single-mode dye laser cavity. The effect of pulse stretching of CVL pump pulse on the temporal dynamics of the dye laser is studied.     

Propagation of vector solitons in a quasi-resonant medium with stark deformation of quantum states

The nonlinear dynamics of a vector two-component optical pulse propagating in quasi-resonance conditions in a medium of nonsymmetric quantum objects is investigated for Stark splitting of quantum energy levels by an external electric field. We consider the case when the ordinary component of the optical pulse induces ?? transitions, while the extraordinary component induces the ?? transition and shifts the frequencies of the allowed transitions due to the dynamic Stark effect. It is found that under Zakharov-Benney resonance conditions, the propagation of the optical pulse is accompanied by generation of an electromagnetic pulse in the terahertz band and is described by the vector generalization of the nonlinear Yajima-Oikawa system. It is shown that this system (as well as its formal generalization with an arbitrary number of optical components) is integrable by the inverse scattering transformation method. The corresponding Darboux transformations are found for obtaining multisoliton solutions. The influence of transverse effects on the propagation of vector solitons is investigated. The conditions under which transverse dynamics leads to self-focusing (defocusing) of solitons are determined.     

Catastrophic collapse of ultrashort pulses

We investigate theoretically the self-focusing dynamics of an ultrashort laser pulse both near and above the threshold at which the pulse effectively undergoes catastrophic collapse. We find that, as a result of space-time focusing and self-steepening, an "optical shock" wave forms inside the medium that gives rise to a broad blueshifted pedestal in the transmitted pulse spectrum. Our results are in good agreement with the primary features observed in experiments and thus provide a theoretical understanding for the underlying process that gives rise to "white-light" generation.     

On certain regularities of the response of a medium upon generation of the triple frequency of a few-period laser pulse in the case of its passage through an optically thin nonlinear layer

The response of a medium at the triple frequency under the action of few-period laser pulses is considered within the framework of the thin-optical-layer approximation for the case where the triple frequency is close to the natural frequency of the linear oscillator. It is shown that a bistable dependence of the polarization amplitudes on the external action amplitude simultaneously appears at both the natural frequency and the frequency of the external action. This allows one, in particular, to reveal the presence of bistability of the regime of third harmonic generation in a physical experiment by using the transmitted radiation of the acting pulse. A decrease in the duration of the pulse incident on the medium leads to an increase in the hysteresis loops. The effect of the absolute phase of a short pulse on the spectral composition of the response of the medium is studied. For pulses of medium duration, in addition to the resonant response of the medium, the presence of the dynamic response of the medium at the triple frequency was revealed, despite a detuning of the latter from the resonance. The presence of this frequency in the spectrum of the response of the medium results in the dependence of the resonant response of the medium on the absolute phase even for a sufficiently long pulse containing tens oscillations of the electric field strength under the pulse envelope. To obtain the dynamics of the spectral lines from the results of computer simulation, the Fourier-Gabor method is used, the applicability of which is demonstrated by the comparison of the results obtained on its basis with the corresponding analytical dependences.     

Femtosecond time-resolved optical polarigraphy: imaging of the propagation dynamics of intense light in a medium

A time-resolved imaging technique for visualizing ultrafast propagation dynamics of intense light pulses in a medium has been demonstrated. The method probes the instantaneous birefringence induced by a pulse in the medium. Through consecutive femtosecond snapshot images of intense femtosecond laser pulses propagating in air, ultrafast temporal changes in the two-dimensional spatial distribution of the optical pulse intensity were clearly seen.     

Oscillating gap 2π pulse in resonantly absorbing lattice

The interaction of a laser pulse with resonant Bragg lattice is studied theoretically for arbitrary initial conditions on the field, inverse population, and polarization of a medium. It is shown that the oscillating 2π self-induced transparency Bragg pulse can form if the Bragg conditions are exactly met. Various regimes are described for the oscillation dynamics of the gap 2π pulse.     

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.     

Driving light pulses with light in two-level media

A two-level medium, described by the Maxwell-Bloch system, is engraved by establishing a standing cavity wave with a linearly polarized electromagnetic field that drives the medium on both ends. A light pulse, polarized along the other direction, then scatters the medium and couples to the cavity standing wave by means of the population inversion density variations. We demonstrate that control of the applied amplitudes of the grating field allows one to stop the light pulse and to make it move backward (eventually to drive it freely). A simplified limit model of the Maxwell-Bloch system with variable boundary driving is obtained as a discrete nonlinear Schr?dinger equation with tunable external potential. It reproduces qualitatively the dynamics of the driven light pulse.     

Superradiance and Raman scattering in three-level molecular system

A model is presented for the dynamics of superradiance, coherent and stimulated Raman scattering from an optically pumped three-level system. The evolution of the pumping and two counterpropagating waves in the adjacent transition are taken into account. The results of computer simulation show that by specifying the pumping pulse area, and active medium length and pressure we can control the parameters of the pulses in the adjacent transition. The possibilities of observing coherent Raman scattering dynamics, which are significantly different from that for stimulated Raman scattering, are shown. The results of simulation show that for the ultrashort pumping pulse the superradiative emission in the backward direction is formed within the coherence length near the entrance plane of the active medium.