Abstract

Shock waves have been thoroughly investigated during the last century in many different branches of physics. In conservative (Hamiltonian) systems the shock singularity is regularized by weak wave dispersion, thus leading to the formation of a rapidly and regular oscillating structure, usually termed in the literature dispersive shock wave (DSW), see e.g. [1]. Here, we show that this fundamental singular process of DSW formation can break down in a system of incoherent nonlinear waves. We consider the strong turbulent regime of a system of nonlocal nonlinear optical waves. We report theoretically and experimentally a characteristic transition: Strengthening the nonlocal character of the nonlinear response drives the system from a fully turbulent regime, featuring a sea of coherent small-scale DSWs (shocklets) towards the unexpected emergence of a giant collective incoherent shock wave [2]. Then contrary to conventional shocks that are inherently coherent deterministic entities, here the giant shock is a collective phenomenon of the incoherent field as a whole.

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