Liquid light condensates

Abstract

We show that a laser beam which propagates through a cubic-quintic nonlinear optical material may reach, for a given power, a condensed state with a collisional dynamics resembling a liquid drop. We qualitatively describe the analogies between this system and the usual fluids and show them by simulating numerically total reflections of these beams with planar boundaries and localized defects. We use the analogy "liquid light" to stress the connections with the dynamics of quantum fluids, including Bose-Einstein condensates.

Quantum Signatures of Breather-Breather Interactions

“…A similar term appears also in nonlinear optics [7] and in cold bosonic atoms trapped in optical lattices [8] where it describes three body interactions. By varying the values of γ 1 and γ 2 it is possible to "shuffle" the order of bands in the (E, k) diagram.…”

Filamentation processes and dynamical excitation of light condensates in optical media with competing nonlinearities

“…In this section we will show through numerical simulations a novel mechanism for the dynamical excitation of so-called "liquid light condensates" [11] in media with CQ nonlinearity, by means of spatial control of the filamentation regime and coalescence processes between selfguided optical channels. Furthermore, we will discuss about the possibility of observation of these structures in the experiments with CS 2 .…”

“…In addition "liquid light condensates", i.e, robust solitonic distributions in CQ optical media with a "flat-top" transverse spatial envelope and intriguing surface tension properties were studied in [11]. Recently, it was shown that their dynamics follows the same equations governing the evolution of usual liquid droplets [12].…”

A new full-vectorial FD-BPM scheme: application to the analysis of magnetooptic and nonlinear saturable media

“…In such materials, the refractive-index growth saturates at high optical-power densities, preventing it from suffering from unstable phenomena such as catastrophic selffocusing and blowup. Remarkably, results in [12] have demonstrated that the propagation of (coherent) high optical-power density beams through these materials generates light condensates having dynamics that resemble very closely those of liquid droplets. The analysis in that case was carried out via the generalized nonlinear Schrödinger equation.…”

“…Recently, Michinel et al [12] have analyzed the propagation of beams and pulses in cubic-quintic nonlinear optical (CQO) materials. In such materials, the refractive-index growth saturates at high optical-power densities, preventing it from suffering from unstable phenomena such as catastrophic selffocusing and blowup.…”