Abstract
We present basic research on the nonlinear dynamics in the vicinity of collapse of ultrashort light pulses propagating in self-focusing Kerr media. The initial stage of spatial self-focusing before collapse is well-understood long ago, and a clear picture of the spatiotemporal dynamics beyond collapse is emerging from recent works. We have then focused our attention in the basic mechanisms responsible for the transition from spatial self-focusing to spatiotemporal filament dynamics in the vicinity of collapse. On one hand, spatial self-focusing was predicted, and recently observed to feature a self-similar compression towards the so-called Townes profile [1]. On the other, the rich spatiotemporal filament dynamics that includes temporal splitting, axial and conical emission, has found a number of interpretations, among which that based on the paradigm of X-waves indicates an explicit link between some of these phenomena. [2] We have established a causal connection between these phenomena in filament dynamics and the specific features of self-focusing. The onset of the filamentary spatiotemporal phenomena is explained as the result of the Kerr-driven instability of the self-focusing Townes profile in the vicinity of the collapse.
© 2007 IEEE
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