Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 28, 2026

Adapting Taylor Dispersion to Measure the Dispersion Coefficient of Electrolyte Solutions via an Accessible Microfluidic Setup
Published on: October 7, 2025
Accelerating Airy wave packets in the presence of quadratic and cubic dispersion
Ioannis M Besieris1, Amr M Shaarawi
1The Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24060, USA. besieris@vt.edu
Abstract:
The equation governing quadratic and cubic transparent dispersion within the framework of the slowly varying envelope approximation is shown to admit an infinite-energy uniformly moving Airy wave packet solution, as well as a square-integrable accelerating Airy solution. Some insight is provided regarding the local acceleration dynamics in the latter case and comparisons are made with the "accelerating" beam solution introduced by Siviloglou and Christodoulides and experimentally demonstrated by Siviloglou, Broky, Dogariu, and Christodoulides recently. It is shown, in particular, that under certain parametrizations, the presence of cubic dispersion can increase the "depth of penetration" of a wave packet. In other words, a pulse can propagate for a larger range without sustaining significant dispersive distortion than in the presence of quadratic dispersion alone. Finally, imaging properties of accelerating airy wave packets are discussed.
Related Concept Videos
Velocity and Acceleration of a Wave
The velocity of the particles can be obtained by taking the partial derivative of the position equation with respect to time. We can...
Propagation Speed of Electromagnetic Waves
Propagation of Waves
Consider a scenario where a wave propagates from a string of low linear mass density to a string of high linear mass density. In such a case, the reflected wave is out of phase with respect to the incident wave, however the...
Accelerating Fluids
The motion of the liquid within this infinitesimal cylinder is considered to obtain the pressure difference. Three vertical forces act on this liquid:
The de Broglie Wavelength
Distribution and Dispersion

