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Modulational Instability in a Layered Kerr Medium: Theory and Experiment
Physics Review Letters
  • Martin Centurion
  • Mason A Porter
  • Ye Pu
  • PG Kevrekidis, University of Massachusetts - Amherst
Publication Date
2006
Abstract

We present the first experimental investigation of modulational instability in a layered Kerr medium. The particularly interesting and appealing feature of our configuration, consisting of alternating glass-air layers, is the piecewise-constant nature of the material properties, which allows a theoretical linear stability analysis leading to a Kronig-Penney equation whose forbidden bands correspond to the modulationally unstable regimes. We find very good quantitative agreement between theoretical, numerical, and experimental diagnostics of the modulational instability. Because of the periodicity in the evolution variable arising from the layered medium, there are multiple instability regions rather than just one as in a uniform medium.

Comments
This is the pre-published version harvested from arXiv. The published version is located at http://prl.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v97/i23/e234101
Citation Information
Martin Centurion, Mason A Porter, Ye Pu and PG Kevrekidis. "Modulational Instability in a Layered Kerr Medium: Theory and Experiment" Physics Review Letters Vol. 97 Iss. 23 (2006)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/panos_kevrekidis/68/