DARK SOLITONS IN NONLINEAR OPTICS

This paper reviews recent theoretical and experimental results on propagation of dark-pulse solitons in nonlinear optical media. Using an analytical approach based on the nonlinear Schrodinger equation, we describe properties of dark solitons, features of their generation by different input pulses, and the dynamics of dark solitons in the presence of perturbations. We also briefly discuss experimental results which show possibility of dark-soliton propagation in optical fibers (temporal dark solitons), laser beams passed through a sodium vapor and nonlinear slab waveguides (spatial dark solitons), and demonstrate that theoretical predictions and experimental data are in a good agreement.