Stabilization of one-dimensional solitons against the critical collapse by quintic nonlinear lattices

TL;DR

This paper investigates how spatially modulated quintic nonlinear lattices can stabilize one-dimensional solitons against collapse, revealing broader stability regions than in 2D models and including higher-order solitons.

Contribution

It introduces a 1D nonlinear Schrödinger equation with spatially modulated quintic nonlinearity, demonstrating stabilization of solitons and higher-order modes, which was previously challenging.

Findings

Sinusoidal nonlinear lattices stabilize quintic solitons in narrow parameter regions.

Stability regions are significantly broader in the 1D cubic-quintic model.

Higher-order solitons can also be stabilized in the 1D CQ model.

Abstract

It has been recently discovered that stabilization of two-dimensional (2D) solitons against the critical collapse in media with the cubic nonlinearity by means of nonlinear lattices (NLs) is a challenging problem. We address the 1D version of the problem, i.e., the nonlinear-Schr\"odinger equation (NLSE) with the quintic or cubic-quintic (CQ) terms, the coefficient in front of which is periodically modulated in space. The models may be realized in optics and Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs). Stability diagrams for the solitons are produced by means of numerical methods and analytical approximations. It is found that the sinusoidal NL stabilzes solitons supported by the quintic-only nonlinearity in a narrow stripe in the respective parameter plane, on the contrary to the case of the cubic nonlinearity in 2D, where the stabilization of solitons by smooth spatial modulations is not possible at all. The stability region is much broader in the 1D CQ model, where higher-order solitons may be stable too.