Abstract

Optical Kerr nonlinearity can give rise to interesting soliton phenomena. Spatially, the combined effects of Kerr nonlinearity with diffraction produces spatial solitons. Temporally, the combined effects of Kerr nonlinearity with group velocity dispersion produces temporal solitons. When a 4D optical pulse propagates through a nonlinear Kerr medium, all these effects show up and are coupled together. In the literature, to the best of our knowledge, there is still no satisfactory theoretical model that can accurately describe the interplay of all these effects that does not require computation power beyond today's computer technology. One of the objectives of our work is to bridge this gap.

© 1994 IEEE