Optical stripes and bullets for a modified nonlinear Schrodinger equation

We study the existence, formation, and stability of quasi-one-dimensional ( stripes) and two-dimensional (bullets) spatio-temporal soliton solutions fo r a (2 + 1)-dimensional modified nonlinear Schrodinger equation, in the pre sence of the self-steepening effect. These solutions, which are on top of a continuous-wave background, are either dark or antidark, the latter being supported by the self-steepening effect. We show that there exist stable sm all-amplitude lump solitons, which, in the context of nonlinear optics, con stitute novel light bullets. (C) 2001 Optical Society of America.