Stability of $N$-soliton molecules in dispersion-managed optical fibers

TL;DR

This paper studies the stability and binding energy of N-soliton molecules in dispersion-managed optical fibers, using an averaged nonlinear Schrödinger equation to match experimental observations and analyze larger N values.

Contribution

It introduces a combined variational and numerical approach to model N-soliton molecules and explores their stability and binding energy saturation for large N.

Findings

Binding energy calculated matches experimental profiles

Stability of 2- and 3-soliton molecules confirmed

Binding energy per soliton saturates at N ≥ 7

Abstract

We investigate the stability of $N$-soliton molecules in dispersion-managed optical fibers with focus on the recently realized 2- and 3-soliton molecules. We calculate their binding energy using an averaged nonlinear Schr$\rm{\ddot o}$dinger equation. A combination of variational and numerical solutions to this equation shows that it describes well the intensity profiles and relative separations of the experimental molecules. Extending the calculation to larger values of $N$, the binding energy per soliton is found to saturate at N $N\ge7$.