Abstract

It is well known that the propagation of light pulses in optical fiber under conditions of anomalous dispersion leads to the formation of solitons, i.e., pulses of a well-defined shape that remain stable during propagation. These pulses have the remarkable property of exerting mutual interaction lorces and to survive collisions with one another. These particle-like properties are appealing both from a fundamental and a technical perspective. Unfortunately, experiments confirming these properties for fiber solitons so far have been restricted to the study of just two solitons.¹

© 1997 Optical Society of America