Optical rogue waves

Abstract

Recent observations show that the probability of encountering an extremely large rogue wave in the open ocean is much larger than expected from ordinary wave-amplitude statistics. Although considerable effort has been directed towards understanding the physics behind these mysterious and potentially destructive events, the complete picture remains uncertain. Furthermore, rogue waves have not yet been observed in other physical systems. Here, we introduce the concept of optical rogue waves, a counterpart of the infamous rare water waves. Using a new real-time detection technique, we study a system that exposes extremely steep, large waves as rare outcomes from an almost identically prepared initial population of waves. Specifically, we report the observation of rogue waves in an optical system, based on a microstructured optical fibre, near the threshold of soliton-fission supercontinuum generation--a noise-sensitive nonlinear process in which extremely broadband radiation is generated from a narrowband input. We model the generation of these rogue waves using the generalized nonlinear Schrödinger equation and demonstrate that they arise infrequently from initially smooth pulses owing to power transfer seeded by a small noise perturbation.

Rogue waves in multiphase solutions of the focusing nonlinear Schrödinger equation

“…Recent experiments in water waves [26], [9] and in fibre optics [31], [21], [22], [16] (see also review articles [5], [10]) have convincingly demonstrated that rogue waves are a generic physical phenomenon deserving a comprehensive investigation [27], [5]. It has also been understood that rogue waves play important role in the characterization of the nonlinear stage of modulational instability [41], [17] and particularly, in the development of integrable turbulence [40], [1], [37], [33].…”

Extreme events in complex linear and nonlinear photonic media

“…Since sailors are well known story makers these monster, destructive waves that were in naval folklore perhaps for thousands of years penetrated the realm of science only recently and after quantitative observations [1,2]. Since then, they seem to spring up in many other fields including optics [3][4][5][6][7], BEC and matter waves, finance, etc [8][9][10][11][12]. Unique 2 features of rogue waves, contrary to other solitary waves, are both their extreme magnitude but also their sudden appearance and disappearance.…”

Modelling rogue waves through exact dynamical lump soliton controlled by ocean currents

“…This elusive freak wave caught the imagination of the broad scientific community quite recently [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15], triggering off an upsurge in theoretical [7,[16][17][18] and experimental [5,[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] studies of this unique phenomenon. For identifying such extreme waves, the suggested signature of these rare events is a deviation of the probability distribution function (PDF) of the wave amplitude from its usual random Gaussian distribution (GD), by having a long-tail, indicating that the appearance of high-intensity pulses more often has much higher probability than that predicted by the GD [19].…”

“…(b) Need for a rogue wave model on a two-dimensional plane Therefore, though the well-accepted class of PB or other solutions of the generalized NLS equation could fit into the working definition of the ocean RW, saying any wave with height more than twice the nearby significant height (average height among one-third of the highest waves) could be treated as the RW [19], they perhaps, with their restricted characteristics, can explain successfully only fixed and moderately intense RW-like events on a one-dimensional line, as observed in water channels [14], optical fibres [12,15] or optical lasers [5,8], but seem to be not satisfactory for modelling the ocean surface RWs.…”