Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Nonlinear Wave Collapse

Alexander Gaeta
Cornell University
Appl. and Eng. Physics

I discuss our recent theoretical and experimental results on the collapse of ultrashort laser pulses in transparent media. We observe temporal pulse splitting and shock-wave formation, and under suitable conditions, we find that the pulse undergoes collapse to a self-similar spatial profile known as the Townes soliton.


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