SWITCHING DYNAMICS OF SPATIAL SOLITARY WAVE PIXELS

Separatrices and scaling laws in the switching dynamics of spatial sol itary wave pixels are investigated. We show that the dynamics in the f ull model are similar to those in the plane-wave limit. switching feat ures may be indicated and explained by the motion of the (complex) sol itary wave amplitude in the phase plane. We report generalization, int o the domain of transverse effects, of the pulse area theorem for the switching process and a logarithmic law for the transient dynamics. We also consider, for what is the first time to our knowledge, phase-enc oded address of solitary pixels and find that a near-square-wave tempo ral switching pattern is permitted without (transverse) cross switchin g.