PARTIALLY COHERENT SOLITONS OF VARIABLE SHAPE

We present analytical and numerical results related to partially coher ent solitons (PCS) of a novel class. In effect, there is freedom to ch oose the shape of a PCS as it is governed by 2N - 1 parameters, where N is the number of linear modes contributing to the soliton. In partic ular, we show that a PCS may have an asymmetric shape. The PCS shape b ecomes arbitrary in the limit of complete incoherence. Another remarka ble new feature of a PCS is that collisions in Kerr-like media cause t he PCS to change its shape, although each beam remains a stationary so liton after the collision. [S0031-9007(98)07677-7].