Ghost interaction of breathers

TL;DR

This paper reports the observation of a novel ghost-like interaction between identical breathers in optical fibers, where they collide without amplification or annihilation, described by the N-breather solution of the nonlinear Schrödinger equation.

Contribution

It introduces a new type of breather interaction in optical fibers, expanding understanding of nonlinear wave dynamics.

Findings

Identified ghost-like breather interactions with unique collision properties.

Demonstrated the dynamics are governed by the N-breather solution of the nonlinear Schrödinger equation.

Observed that breathers can collide with amplitudes near their maxima without destructive outcomes.

Abstract

Mutual interaction of localized nonlinear waves, e.g. solitons and modulation instability patterns, is a fascinating and intensively-studied topic of nonlinear science. In this research report, we report on the observation of a novel type of breather interaction in telecommunication optical fibers, in which two identical breathers propagate with opposite group velocities. Under certain conditions, neither amplification nor annihilation occur at the collision point and most interestingly, its amplitude is almost equal to another maximum of either oscillating breather. This ghost-like breather interaction dynamics can be fully described by the N-breather solution of the nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation.