Electrostriction mechanism of soliton interaction in optical fibers

Abstract

In contrast to the mechanism of interaction determined by the Kerr nolinearity, the electrostrictive interaction between picosecond pulses in optical fibers can occur when the temporal interval between them is much greater than their duration. The width of the interval is determined by the lifetime of the sound wave in the fiber core region, i.e., ~1 nsec. It follows from our calculations that for long propagation distances (L > 1000 km) the relative temporal separation of the interacting pulses can reach hundreds of picoseconds at the temporal interval between them of ~1 nsec.