The collapse of self-focusing waves described by the nonlinear Schrodi
nger (NLS) equation and the Zakharov equations in nonlinear optics and
plasma turbulence is reviewed. Special attention is paid to the blow-
up properties of solutions to the NLS equation with a power nonlineari
ty. Conditions for blow-up and global existence of these solutions, to
gether with criteria for the stability of stationary waves are recalle
d. The variational approach, the so-called exactly and quasi- self-sim
ilar analyses employed for modelling wave collapse are then compared.
Besides, the influence of the group-velocity dispersion and deviations
from the spatio-temporal envelope approximations are investigated as
structural perturbations of the NLS standard models, which can strongl
y alter the blow-up dynamics. Finally, a detailed description of wave
collapses in materials with quadratic and cubic responses and a map-ma
king of the interaction regimes between two light cells in Kerr media
complete this review. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserv
ed.