Attraction centers and parity-time-symmetric delta-functional dipoles in critical and supercritical self-focusing media

Interactions of fractional solitons with local defects: Stabilization and scattering

Stability is an essential problem in theoretical and experimental studies of solitons in nonlinear media with fractional diffraction, which is represented by the Riesz derivative with Lévy index (LI) α, taking values α<2. Fractional solitons are unstable at α≤1 or α≤2 in uniform one-dimensional media with the cubic or quintic self-focusing, respectively. We demonstrate that, in these cases, the solitons may be effectively stabilized by pinning to a delta-functional trapping potential (attractive defect), which is a relevant setting in optical waveguides with the effective fractional diffraction. Using the respective fractional nonlinear Schrödinger equation with the delta-functional potential term, we find that, in the case of the cubic self-focusing, the fractional solitons are fully stabilized by the pinning to the defect for α=1 and partly stabilized for α<1. In the case of the quintic self-focusing, the full and partial stabilization are found for α=2 and α<2, respectively. In both cases, the instability boundary is exactly predicted by the Vakhitov-Kolokolov criterion. Unstable solitons spontaneously transform into oscillating breathers. A variational approximation (VA) is elaborated parallel to the numerical analysis, with a conclusion that the VA produces accurate results for lower LI values, i.e., stronger fractionality. In the cubic medium, collisions of traveling stable solitons with repulsive and attractive defects are addressed too, demonstrating outcomes in the form of rebound, splitting, and passage.

P T -symmetric KdV solutions and their algebraic extension with zero-width resonances

A class of complex breather and soliton solutions to both KdV and mKdV equations are identified with a Pöschl-Teller type P T -symmetric potential. However, these solutions represent only the unbroken- P T phase owing to their isospectrality to an infinite potential well in the complex plane having real spectra. To obtain the broken- P T phase, an extension of the potential satisfying the s l 2 , R potential algebra is mandatory that additionally supports non-trivial zero-width resonances.

One-dimensional Townes solitons in dual-core systems with localized coupling

The recent creation of Townes solitons (TSs) in binary Bose-Einstein condensates and experimental demonstration of spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB) in solitons propagating in dual-core optical fibers has drawn renewed interest in the TS and SSB phenomenology in these and other settings. In particular, stabilization of TSs, which are always unstable in free space, is a relevant problem with various ramifications. We introduce a system which admits exact solutions for both TSs and SSB of solitons. It is based on a dual-core waveguide with quintic self-focusing and fused (localized) coupling between the cores. The respective system of coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equations gives rise to exact solutions for full families of symmetric and asymmetric solitons, which are produced by the supercritical SSB bifurcation (i.e., the symmetry-breaking phase transition of the second kind). Stability boundaries of asymmetric solitons are identified by dint of numerical methods. Unstable solitons spontaneously transform into robust moderately asymmetric breathers or strongly asymmetric states with small intrinsic oscillations. The setup can be used in the design of photonic devices operating in coupling and switching regimes.

Spontaneous symmetry breaking and ghost states supported by the fractional PT-symmetric saturable nonlinear Schrödinger equation

We report a novel spontaneous symmetry breaking phenomenon and ghost states existed in the framework of the fractional nonlinear Schrödinger equation with focusing saturable nonlinearity and PT-symmetric potential. The continuous asymmetric soliton branch bifurcates from the fundamental symmetric one as the power exceeds some critical value. Intriguingly, the symmetry of fundamental solitons is broken into two branches of asymmetry solitons (alias ghost states) with complex conjugate propagation constants, which is solely in fractional media. Besides, the dipole and tripole solitons (i.e., first and second excited states) are also studied numerically. Moreover, we analyze the influences of fractional Lévy index ( α) and saturable nonlinear parameters (S) on the symmetry breaking of solitons in detail. The stability of fundamental symmetric soliton, asymmetric, dipole, and tripole solitons is explored via the linear stability analysis and direct propagations. Moreover, we explore the elastic/semi-elastic collision phenomena between symmetric and asymmetric solitons. Meanwhile, we find the stable excitations from the fractional diffraction with saturation nonlinearity to integer-order diffraction with Kerr nonlinearity via the adiabatic excitations of parameters. These results will provide some theoretical basis for the study of spontaneous symmetry breaking phenomena and related physical experiments in the fractional media with PT-symmetric potentials.

Stability and modulation of optical peakons in self-focusing/defocusing Kerr nonlinear media with PT-δ-hyperbolic-function potentials

In this paper, we introduce a class of novel PT- δ-hyperbolic-function potentials composed of the Dirac δ(x) and hyperbolic functions, supporting fully real energy spectra in the non-Hermitian Hamiltonian. The threshold curves of PT symmetry breaking are numerically presented. Moreover, in the self-focusing and defocusing Kerr-nonlinear media, the PT-symmetric potentials can also support the stable peakons, keeping the total power and quasi-power conserved. The unstable PT-symmetric peakons can be transformed into other stable peakons by the excitations of potential parameters. Continuous families of additional stable numerical peakons can be produced in internal modes around the exact peakons (even unstable). Further, we find that the stable peakons can always propagate in a robust form, remaining trapped in the slowly moving potential wells, which opens the way for manipulations of optical peakons. Other significant characteristics related to exact peakons, such as the interaction and power flow, are elucidated in detail. These results will be useful in explaining the related physical phenomena and designing the related physical experiments.

Formation, stability, and adiabatic excitation of peakons and double-hump solitons in parity-time-symmetric Dirac-δ(x)-Scarf-II optical potentials

We introduce a class of physically intriguing PT-symmetric Dirac-δ-Scarf-II optical potentials. We find the parameter region making the corresponding non-Hermitian Hamiltonian admit the fully real spectra, and present the stable parameter domains for these obtained peakons, smooth solitons, and double-hump solitons in the self-focusing nonlinear Kerr media with PT-symmetric δ-Scarf-II potentials. In particular, the stable wave propagations are exhibited for the peakon solutions and double-hump solitons from some given parameters even if the corresponding parameters belong to the linear PT-phase broken region. Moreover, we also find the stable wave propagations of exact and numerical peakons and double-hump solitons in the interplay between the power-law nonlinearity and PT-symmetric potentials. Finally, we examine the interactions of the nonlinear modes with exotic waves, and the stable adiabatic excitations of peakons and double-hump solitons in the PT-symmetric Kerr nonlinear media. These results provide the theoretical basis for the design of related physical experiments and applications in PT-symmetric nonlinear optics, Bose-Einstein condensates, and other relevant physical fields.

Soliton formation and stability under the interplay between parity-time-symmetric generalized Scarf-II potentials and Kerr nonlinearity

We present an alternative type of parity-time (PT)-symmetric generalized Scarf-II potentials, which makes possible for non-Hermitian Hamiltonians in the classical linear Schrödinger system to possess fully real spectra with unique features such as the multiple PT-symmetric breaking behaviors and to support one-dimensional (1D) stable PT-symmetric solitons of power-law waveform, namely power-law solitons, in focusing Kerr-type nonlinear media. Moreover, PT-symmetric high-order solitons are also derived numerically in 1D and 2D settings. Around the exactly obtained nonlinear propagation constants, families of 1D and 2D localized nonlinear modes are also found numerically. The majority of fundamental nonlinear modes can still keep steady in general, whereas the 1D multipeak solitons and 2D vortex solitons are usually susceptible to suffering from instability. Likewise, similar results occur in the defocusing Kerr-nonlinear media. The obtained results will be useful for understanding the complex dynamics of nonlinear waves that form in PT-symmetric nonlinear media in other physical contexts.

Singular Mean-Field States: A Brief Review of Recent Results

This article provides a focused review of recent findings which demonstrate, in some cases quite counter-intuitively, the existence of bound states with a singularity of the density pattern at the center; the states are physically meaningful because their total norm converges. One model of this type is based on the 2D Gross–Pitaevskii equation (GPE), which combines the attractive potential ∼ r − 2 and the quartic self-repulsive nonlinearity, induced by the Lee–Huang–Yang effect (quantum fluctuations around the mean-field state). The GPE demonstrates suppression of the 2D quantum collapse, driven by the attractive potential, and emergence of a stable ground state (GS), whose density features an integrable singularity ∼ r − 4 / 3 at r → 0 . Modes with embedded angular momentum exist too, but they are unstable. A counter-intuitive peculiarity of the model is that the GS exists even if the sign of the potential is reversed from attraction to repulsion, provided that its strength is small enough. This peculiarity finds a relevant explanation. The other model outlined in the review includes 1D, 2D, and 3D GPEs, with the septimal (seventh-order), quintic, and cubic self-repulsive terms, respectively. These equations give rise to stable singular solitons, which represent the GS for each dimension D, with the density singularity ∼ r − 2 / ( 4 − D ) . Such states may be considered the results of screening a “bare” delta-functional attractive potential by the respective nonlinearities.