Influence of higher-order dispersion on modulational instability and pulse broadening of partially incoherent light

Abstract

The Wigner-Moyal equation for the Wigner distribution of a partially incoherent optical wave field propagating in dispersive and nonlinear media has been generalized to include the effects of both arbitrary order of dispersion and arbitrary nonlinearity. The theory predicts partial incoherence to enhance the pulse broadening during linear wave pulse propagation. Furthermore, an application of the theory to the modulational instability of constant amplitude waves shows how higher-order dispersion affects the instability growth rate.