Abstract

It is shown that for a certain class of nonlinearity, the single-soliton solution of the (generalized) nonlinear Schrodinger equation becomes multistable. This implies that more than one amplitude profile and speed of propagation of a single soliton may exist for the same amount of total power carried by the soliton. The multistable solitone may exist only if the nonlinear component of the susceptibility as a function of intensity changes its sign or its derivative has a sufficiently sharp peak (e.g., a steplike function).

© 1985 Optical Society of America