Comparison of theory and experiment for dispersion-managed solitons in a recirculating fiber loop

We have developed a model that accurately predicts the dynamics of the sign al pulses and the growth of amplified spontaneous emission noise in a dispe rsion-managed soliton pulse train propagating in a recirculating fiber-loop experiment. Theoretically predicted dependencies of the amplitude and phas e margins for the marks and the amplitude margin for the spaces as a functi on of distance are in remarkable agreement with the experiments. This model allows us to determine the key physical effects that limit the propagation distance in our experiments.