Spatiotemporal dynamics in a twisted, circular waveguide array

Abstract

We consider the existence and spectral stability of nonlinear discrete localized solutions representing light pulses propagating in a twisted multi-core optical fiber. By considering an even number, $N$, of waveguides, we derive asymptotic expressions for solutions in which the bulk of the light intensity is concentrated as a soliton-like pulses confined to a single waveguide. The leading order terms obtained are in very good agreement with results of numerical computations. Furthermore, as in the model without temporal dispersion, when the twist parameter, $\phi$, is given by $\phi = \pi/N$, these standing waves exhibit optical suppression, in which a single waveguide remains unexcited, to leading order. Spectral computations and numerical evolution experiments suggest that these standing wave solutions are stable for values of the coupling parameter less than a critical value, at which point a spectral instability results from the collision of an internal eigenvalue with the eigenvalues at the origin. This critical value has a maximum when $\phi = \pi/N$.