The hierarchy of rogue wave solutions in nonlinear systems

Oceanic freak waves, optical spikes and extreme events in numerous contexts can arguably be modelled by modulationally unstable solutions within nonlinear systems. In particular, the fundamental nonlinear Schroedinger equation (NLSE) hosts a high-amplitude spatiotemporally localised solution on a plane-wave background, called the Peregrine breather, which is generally considered to be the base-case prototype of a rogue wave. Nonetheless, until very recently, little was known about what to expect when observing or engineering entire clusters of extreme events. Accordingly, this thesis aims to elucidate this matter by investigating complicated structures formed from collections of Peregrine breathers. Many novel NLSE solutions are discovered, all systematically classifiable by their geometry. The methodology employed here is based on the well-established concept of Darboux transformations, by which individual component solutions of an integrable system are nonlinearly superimposed to form a compound wavefunction. It is primarily implemented in a numerical manner within this study, operating on periodically modulating NLSE solutions called breathers. Rogue wave structures can only be extracted at the end of this process, when a limit of zero modulation frequency is applied to all components. Consequently, a requirement for breather asymmetry ensures that a multi-rogue wavefunction must be formed from a triangular number of individual Peregrine breathers (e.g. 1, 3, 6, 10, ...), whether fused or separated. Furthermore, the arrangements of these are restricted by a maximum phase-shift allowable along an evolution trajectory through the relevant wave field. Ultimately, all fundamental high-order rogue wave solutions can be constructed via polynomial relations between origin-translating component shifts and squared modulation frequency ratios. They are simultaneously categorisable by both these mathematical existence conditions and the corresponding visual symmetries, appearing spatiotemporally as triangular cascades, pentagrams, heptagrams, and so on. These parametric relations do not conflict with each other, meaning that any arbitrary NLSE rogue wave solution can be considered a hybridisation of this elementary set. Moreover, this hierarchy of structures is significantly general, with complicated arrangements persisting even on a cnoidal background

Solitons, Breathers and Rogue Waves in Nonlinear Media

In this thesis, the solutions of the Nonlinear Schrödinger equation (NLSE) and its hierarchy are studied extensively. In nonlinear optics, as the duration of optical pulses get shorter, in highly nonlinear media, their dynamics become more complex, and, as a modelling equation, the basic NLSE fails to explain their behaviour. Using the NLSE and its hierarchy, this thesis explains the ultra-short pulse dynamics in highly nonlinear media. To pursue this purpose, the next higher-order equations beyond the basic NLSE are considered; namely, they are the third order Hirota equation and the fifth order quintic NLSE. Solitons, breathers and rogue wave solutions of these two equations have been derived explicitly. It is revealed that higher order terms offer additional features in the solutions, namely, ‘Soliton Superposition’, ‘Breather Superposition’ and ‘Breather-to-Soliton’ conversion. How robust are the rogue wave solutions against perturbations? To answer this question, two types of perturbative cases have been considered; one is odd-asymmetric and the other type is even-symmetric. For the odd-asymmetric perturbative case, combined Hirota and Sasa-Satsuma equations are considered, and for the latter case, fourth order dispersion and a quintic nonlinear term combined with the NLSE are considered. Indeed, this thesis shows that rogue waves survive these perturbations for specific ranges of parameter values. The integrable Ablowitz-Ladik (AL) equation is the discrete counterpart of the NLSE. If the lattice spacing parameter goes to zero, the discrete AL becomes the continuous NLSE. Similar rules apply to their solutions. A list of corresponding solutions of the discrete Ablowitz-Ladik and the NLSE has been derived. Using associate Legendre polynomial functions, sets of solutions have been derived for the coupled Manakov equations, for both focusing and defocusing cases. They mainly explain partially coherent soliton (PCS) dynamics in Kerr-like media. Additionally, corresponding approximate solutions for two coupled NLSE and AL equations have been derived. For the shallow water case, closed form breathers, rational and degenerate solutions of the modified Kortweg-de Vries equation are also presented

Measurements of Noise-seeded Dynamics in Nonlinear Fiber Optics

Nonlinear physical systems are ubiquitous in nature - formation of sand dunes, currents occuring in a rapidly flowing river or a simple double rod pedulum are just a few examples from everyday life. Studying and understanding these systems has interested scientists for decades. Because these nonlinear systems might be chaotic, measurements of such systems need to be performed on a real-time basis and by statistical analysis methods.The propagation of short and intense pulses in optical fibers are another well-known example of nonlinear systems. However, the rapid fluctuations of optical fields has prohibited studying these systems on a real-time basis, until recent years. This thesis demonstrates the use of state-of-the-art real-time measurement techniques to capture the stochastic dynamics of noise-seeded nonlinear processes in optical fibers allowing for novel insights and interpretation within analytical frameworks.In particular, we characterize noisy picosecond pulse train emerging from spontaneous modulation instability using a time lens system. The experimental results are compared with analytical Akhmediev breather solutions showing remarkable agreement, allowing to understand the complex dynamics from an analytical viewpoint. An experimental demonstration of a high dynamic range real-time spectral measurement system for spontaneous modulation instability is also introduced to study the random breather structures in the spectral domain, paving the way for possible indirect optical rogue wave detection schemes.By combining real-time temporal and spectral measurements unforeseen details of transition dynamics of a mode-locking of a fiber laser are also reported. The simultaneous spectro-temporal acquisition allows for complete electric field reconstruction with numerical algorithms, which has not been possible before at megahertz repetition rates with sub-picosecond and sub-nanometer resolutions demonstrated here.Supercontinuum generation is one of the most well-known examples of nonlinear fiber optics that is also becoming widely spread in applications. The details of the complex and noise driven dynamics are now well-known, but the connection of the stability of such light sources with traditional coherence theory was only derived recently. Experimental measurement of supercontinuum stability in the framework of second-order coherence theory is demonstrated, filling a gap in characterization of non-stationary light sources.Finally, an application of supercontinuum generation is proposed in terms of all-optical signal amplification. This is based on the inherently sensitive nature of the nonlinear process to any input fluctuations. The potential of such a highly nonlinear system for a practical application is demonstrated and the underlying dynamics leading to this sensitivity are explained

Analysis and control of rogue waves in fibre lasers and in hydrodynamics: integrable turbulence framework

Understanding mechanisms underlying the formation of extreme events is the problem of primary importance in various domains of study including hydrodynamics, optics, forecasting natural disasters etc. In these domains, extreme events are known as RogueWaves (RWs). RWs are localised coherent structures of unusually large amplitude spontaneously emerging in nonlinear random wave fields, and as such, can have damaging effect on the environment (e.g. offshore engineering structures) or on the medium they propagate through (e.g. optical fibres). Within this PhD project several problems related to the emergence, control and manipulation of RWs in fibre optics and in hydrodynamics have been investigated. The particular emphasis is on the study of RWs emerging in the propagation of the so-called partially coherent waves described by the focusing nonlinear Schr¨odinger equation (fNLSE), the universal model for the propagation of modulationally unstable quasi-monochromatic wavepackets in a broad range of physical media. fNLSE belongs to the class of the completely integrable equations possessing deep mathematical structure and amenable to analytical methods such as Inverse Scattering Transform and Finite-Gap Integration. We use recent mathematical discoveries related to the semi classical, or small-dispersion, limit of fNLSE to investigate analytically, numerically and experimentally the formation of RWs within the framework of integrable turbulence—the emerging theory of random waves in integrable systems. The study of the RW formation in this project has also prompted the investigation of a closely related problem concerned with dynamics of soliton and breather gases as special types of integrable turbulence. The project’s findings fall in five categories: (i) the analytical description of the emergence of the so-called “heavy tails” in the probability distribution for the field intensity at the early stage of the development of integrable turbulence; (ii) the development and experimental realisation in a water tank of nonlinear spectral engineering, the IST-based method of control and manipulation of RWs; (iii) the development of the spectral theory of bidirectional soliton gases; (iv) numerical synthesis of breather gases and the verification of the recently developed spectral kinetic theory for such gases; (v) the investigation of the RWformation in the compression of broad optical pulses in the highly nonlinear propagation regimes, when the higher order effects such as self steepening, third order dispersion and Raman scattering need to be taken into account

Symmetries of Nonlinear PDEs on Metric Graphs and Branched Networks

This Special Issue focuses on recent progress in a new area of mathematical physics and applied analysis, namely, on nonlinear partial differential equations on metric graphs and branched networks. Graphs represent a system of edges connected at one or more branching points (vertices). The connection rule determines the graph topology. When the edges can be assigned a length and the wave functions on the edges are defined in metric spaces, the graph is called a metric graph. Evolution equations on metric graphs have attracted much attention as effective tools for the modeling of particle and wave dynamics in branched structures and networks. Since branched structures and networks appear in different areas of contemporary physics with many applications in electronics, biology, material science, and nanotechnology, the development of effective modeling tools is important for the many practical problems arising in these areas. The list of important problems includes searches for standing waves, exploring of their properties (e.g., stability and asymptotic behavior), and scattering dynamics. This Special Issue is a representative sample of the works devoted to the solutions of these and other problems

Nonlinear Optics

This book examines nonlinear optical effects in nonlinear nanophotonics, plasmonics, and novel materials for nonlinear optics. It discusses different types of plasmonic excitations such as volume plasmons, localized surface plasmons, and surface plasmon polaritons. It also examines the specific features of nonlinear optical phenomena in plasmonic nanostructures and metamaterials. Chapters cover such topics as applications of nanophotonics, novel materials for nonlinear optics based on nanoparticles, polymers, and photonic glasses

Hydrodynamics

The phenomena related to the flow of fluids are generally complex, and difficult to quantify. New approaches - considering points of view still not explored - may introduce useful tools in the study of Hydrodynamics and the related transport phenomena. The details of the flows and the properties of the fluids must be considered on a very small scale perspective. Consequently, new concepts and tools are generated to better describe the fluids and their properties. This volume presents conclusions about advanced topics of calculated and observed flows. It contains eighteen chapters, organized in five sections: 1) Mathematical Models in Fluid Mechanics, 2) Biological Applications and Biohydrodynamics, 3) Detailed Experimental Analyses of Fluids and Flows, 4) Radiation-, Electro-, Magnetohydrodynamics, and Magnetorheology, 5) Special Topics on Simulations and Experimental Data. These chapters present new points of view about methods and tools used in Hydrodynamics

The Devil's Invention: Asymptotic, Superasymptotic and Hyperasymptotic Series

Singular perturbation methods, such as the method of multiple scales and the method of matched asymptotic expansions, give series in a small parameter ε which are asymptotic but (usually) divergent. In this survey, we use a plethora of examples to illustrate the cause of the divergence, and explain how this knowledge can be exploited to generate a 'hyperasymptotic' approximation. This adds a second asymptotic expansion, with different scaling assumptions about the size of various terms in the problem, to achieve a minimum error much smaller than the best possible with the original asymptotic series. (This rescale-and-add process can be repeated further.) Weakly nonlocal solitary waves are used as an illustration.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/41670/1/10440_2004_Article_193995.pd