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Excitability mediated by localized structures in a dissipative nonlinear optical cavity
Damià Gomila1, Manuel A Matías, Pere Colet
1Institut Mediterrani d'Estudis Avançats (IMEDEA,CSIC-UIB), Campus Universitat Illes Balears, E-07122 Palma de Mallorca, Spain. damia@phys.strath.ac.uk
Physical Review Letters
|March 24, 2005
Summary
Researchers discovered a new excitable regime in nonlinear optical cavities. Stable localized structures transition to self-pulsating behavior, leading to excitability through spatial dependence, not local properties.
Area of Science:
- Nonlinear optics
- Optical cavity dynamics
- Bifurcation theory
Background:
- Dissipative nonlinear optical cavities can host complex dynamical behaviors.
- Localized structures are key features in such systems.
- Understanding the transition to excitability is crucial for controlling optical systems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To find and characterize a novel excitability regime in a dissipative nonlinear optical cavity.
- To investigate the role of localized structures in mediating this excitability.
- To elucidate the underlying bifurcation mechanisms organizing the observed phenomena.
Main Methods:
- Numerical simulations of a dissipative nonlinear optical cavity model.
- Analysis of bifurcations, including Hopf and saddle-loop bifurcations.
- Investigation of Takens-Bogdanov codimension-2 bifurcation points.
Main Results:
- Stable localized structures were found to undergo a Hopf bifurcation to self-pulsating behavior.
- This self-pulsation was destroyed via a saddle-loop bifurcation.
- A regime of excitable localized structures emerged under specific perturbations, driven by spatial dependence.
Conclusions:
- Excitability in this system arises from the interplay of localized structures and spatial effects, not from local properties alone.
- The observed scenario is systematically organized by a Takens-Bogdanov codimension-2 bifurcation.
- This work reveals a new pathway to excitability in nonlinear optical systems.