The dissipative soliton concept is a fundamental extension of the concept of solitons in conservative and integrable systems. It includes ideas from three major sources, namely standard soliton theory developed since the 1960s; nonlinear dynamics theory; and Prigogine's ideas of systems far from equilibrium. These three sources also correspond to the three component parts of this novel paradigm. This book explains the above principles in detail and gives the reader various examples.

The dissipative soliton concept is a fundamental extension of the concept of solitons in conservative and integrable systems. It includes ideas from three major sources, namely standard soliton theory developed since the 1960s; nonlinear dynamics theory; and Prigogine's ideas of systems far from equilibrium. These three sources also correspond to the three component parts of this novel paradigm. This book explains the above principles in detail and gives the reader various examples.

Guiding graduate students and researchers through the complex world of laser physics and nonlinear optics, this book provides an in-depth exploration of the dynamics of lasers and other relevant optical systems, under the umbrella of a unitary spatio-temporal vision. Adopting a balanced approach, the book covers traditional as well as special topics in laser physics, quantum electronics and nonlinear optics, treating them from the viewpoint of nonlinear dynamical systems. These include laser emission, frequency generation, solitons, optically bistable systems, pulsations and chaos and optical pattern formation. It also provides a coherent and up-to-date treatment of the hierarchy of nonlinear optical models and of the rich variety of phenomena they describe, helping readers to understand the limits of validity of each model and the connections among the phenomena. It is ideal for graduate students and researchers in nonlinear optics, quantum electronics, laser physics and photonics.

This book introduces the basic concept of a dissipative soliton, before going to explore recent theoretical and experimental results for various classes of dissipative optical solitons, high-energy dissipative solitons and their applications, and mode-locked fiber lasers. A soliton is a concept which describes various physical phenomena ranging from solitary waves forming on water to ultrashort optical pulses propagating in an optical fiber. While solitons are usually attributed to integrability, in recent years the notion of a soliton has been extended to various systems which are not necessarily integrable. Until now, the main emphasis has been given to well-known conservative soliton systems, but new avenues of inquiry were opened when physicists realized that solitary waves did indeed exist in a wide range of non-integrable and non-conservative systems leading to the concept of so-called dissipative optical solitons. Dissipative optical solitons have many unique properties which differ from those of their conservative counterparts. For example, except for very few cases, they form zero-parameter families and their properties are completely determined by the external parameters of the optical system. They can exist indefinitely in time, as long as these parameters stay constant. These features of dissipative solitons are highly desirable for several applications, such as in-line regeneration of optical data streams and generation of stable trains of laser pulses by mode-locked cavities.

The notion of dissipative solitons is a useful concept that allows us to describe, in general terms, a variety of phenomena in physics, chemistry, biology and medicine. Some specific features of these formations are common for all of them, independent of the problem that we are solving and the model we are using. Many problems in optics involving gain and loss can be formulated in terms of a single "master equation" that is, in one or another form, of the complex cubic-quintic Ginzburg-Landau equation (CGLE) type.

This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Guided-Wave Optics" that was published in Applied Sciences

Solitons in Optical Fiber Systems Discover a robust exploration of the main properties and behaviors of solitons in fiber systems In Solitons in Optical Fiber Systems, distinguished researcher Dr. Mário F. S. Ferreira delivers a thorough treatment of the main characteristics of solitons in optical fiber communication systems and fiber devices, paying special attention to stationary and pulsating dissipative soliton pulses. The book discusses the technical aspects associated with the physical background and the theoretical description of soliton characteristics under different conditions. The author employs numerical analyses and variational approaches to describe soliton evolution and describes the phenomenon of supercontinuum generation and various solitonic effects observed in highly nonlinear fibers, like photonic crystal fibers. Readers will learn about different applications of fiber solitons in transmission systems, fiber lasers, couplers, and pulse compression schemes, as well as complex Ginzburg-Landau equations, which are used to model different types of dissipative systems. The book also includes: A thorough introduction to solitons, including the linear and nonlinear effects of a wave, the discovery of solitary waves, and the discovery of solitons in optical fibers An exploration of fiber dispersion and nonlinearity, including optical fiber dispersion, the pulse propagation equation, and the impact of fiber dispersion Practical discussions of nonlinear effects in optical fibers, including self-phase modulation, cross-phase modulations, four-wave mixing, and stimulated raman scattering In-depth treatments of solitons in optical fibers, including modulation instability, dark solitons, bistable solitons, XPM-paired solitons, and the variational approach Perfect for senior undergraduate and graduate students in courses dealing with fiber-optics technology, Solitons in Optical Fiber Systems is also an ideal resource for engineers and technicians in the fiber-optics industry and researchers of nonlinear fiber optics.