Abstract

It is well know that two sufficiently well separated identical (bright) spatial solitons launched parallel to one another will attract each other if they are in phase, and repel each other if they are 1800 out of phase [1]. This result holds not just for planar solitons of Kerr material, but more generally for any stable self-guided beam of a medium whose refractive index depends arbitrarily on intensity [2]. Accordingly, are there any conditions under which two stable self-guided beams can travel in parallel?

© 1993 Optical Society of America