Collapse arrest and self-guiding of femtosecond pulses

Nonlinear evolution of femtosecond pulses in media with weak dispersion and power slightly above the critical for self-focusing in the framework of generalized non-paraxial amplitude equation is analyzed. It is found that this nonlinear non-paraxial regime strongly depends from the initial form of the pulses. In case of long pulse (small transverse and large longitudinal size), the dynamics is closer to nonlinear paraxial dynamics of a laser beam, and the difference consists in large spectral and longitudinal spatial modulation of the long pulse. The non-paraxial terms play an important role on the evolution of light bullets and light disks. In regime of light bullets (relatively equal transverse and longitudinal size) weak self-focusing without pedestal and collapse arrest is obtained. Non-collapsed regime of light disks (pulses with small longitudinal and large transverse size) is also observed. Our results are in good agreement with the recent experiments on nonlinear propagation of femtosecond pulses. For first time is demonstrated that such non-paraxial model can explain effects as spectral broadening, collapse arrest and nonlinear wave guide behavior.