Negative frequencies in pulse propagation equations and the double analytic signal

Abstract

In recent years, the topic of negative frequencies has resurfaced in optics motivated by the optical analogue of Hawking radiation. We discuss the physical meaning of negative frequencies and the conditions under which they are relevant. We review how negative frequencies are treated in current pulse propagation models based on the electric field (EF) and the analytic signal (AS). We focus on experimentally measured signals predicted by the conservation of negative comoving frequency in the nonlinear polarization terms to advance these concepts. We propose a new formalism called the double analytic signal (DAS) which clearly separates negative frequencies from positive ones. Additionally, we reduce this new formalism to the AS to prove their equivalence. Throughout the paper, we present numerical solutions of the unidirectional pulse propagation equation to illustrate the EF, AS, and DAS formalisms and to highlight their differences.