Ring surface waves in thermal nonlinear media

TL;DR

This paper investigates stable and metastable ring-shaped surface waves in defocusing thermal media with circular cross-sections, highlighting the influence of geometry and nonlocal nonlinearity on wave stability.

Contribution

It introduces the existence and stability analysis of ring surface waves in thermal nonlinear media with specific focus on geometry and nonlocal effects.

Findings

Nodeless ring surface waves are stable for all winding numbers.

Surface waves with few azimuthal nodes can be metastable.

Wave properties depend on the sample's geometry.

Abstract

We address ring-shaped surface waves supported by defocusing thermal media with circular cross-section. Such waves exist because of the balance between repulsion from the interface and deflection of light from the bulk medium due to defocusing nonlocal nonlinearity. The properties of such surface waves are determined by the geometry of the sample. Nodeless ring surface waves are stable for all values of their winding number, while surface waves with a small number of azimuthal nodes can be metastable.