A VARIATIONAL APPROACH TO OPTICAL SOLITON COLLISIONS

The mathematical analogy between the nonlinear Schrodinger equations d escribing propagation of temporal soliton pulses in optical fibres, an d propagation of spatial soliton beams in planar optical wave guides i s discussed. A straightforward variational method, based on trial func tions and Rayleigh-Ritz optimization, is demonstrated and applied to i ncoherent interaction of solitons. We study incoherent soliton interac tion in a wavelength-multiplexed optical-fibre communication system, a s well as the analogous problem for crossed optical beams in a planar waveguide. The predictions of the variational approach are also shown to be in good agreement with numerical simulation results and with exp eriments.