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Published on: May 30, 2014
Quantum-noise-initiated symmetry breaking of spatial solitons
S D Jenkins1, D Salerno, S Minardi
1School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0430, USA.
Abstract:
The spectra of chi(2) spatial solitons are measured close to the soliton-formation threshold and show the presence of sidebands, shifted by 39 THz from the laser line. By comparing with the predictions of a quantum optical field model, solved numerically in the full (3 + 1)-dimensional space, it is claimed that the observed temporal instability of the spatial soliton is seeded by vacuum state fluctuations of the electromagnetic field.
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