Coherent Cavitation in the Liquid of Light

TL;DR

This paper investigates complex wave phenomena in a nonlinear Schrödinger equation, revealing how soliton interactions can produce various coherent structures like rarefaction pulses and vortex pairs, with outcomes influenced by phase relations.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of stationary traveling waves and soliton collision dynamics in a 2D nonlinear Schrödinger framework, highlighting phase-dependent evolution outcomes.

Findings

Generation of rarefaction pulses inside a flattop soliton.

Phase-dependent evolution leading to reemergence of bright solitons.

Identification of vortex-antivortex pairs and other coherent structures.

Abstract

We study the cubic- (focusing-)quintic (defocusing) nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation in two transverse dimensions. We discuss a family of stationary traveling waves, including rarefaction pulses and vortexantivortex pairs, in a background of critical amplitude. We show that these rarefaction pulses can be generated inside a flattop soliton when a smaller bright soliton collides with it. The fate of the evolution strongly depends on the relative phase of the solitons. Among several possibilities, we find that the dark pulse can reemerge as a bright soliton.