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Updated: Jun 14, 2026

Using Microwave and Macroscopic Samples of Dielectric Solids to Study the Photonic Properties of Disordered Photonic Bandgap Materials
Published on: September 26, 2014
Nonlinear wave-packet dynamics in a disordered medium
1Department of Physics, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-4242, USA. schwiete@physics.tamu.edu
Abstract:
We develop an effective theory of pulse propagation in a nonlinear and disordered medium in two dimensions. The theory is formulated in terms of a nonlinear diffusion equation. Despite its apparent simplicity this equation describes novel phenomena which we refer to as "locked explosion" and diffusive collapse. The equation can be applied to such distinct physical systems as laser beams propagating in disordered photonic crystals or Bose-Einstein condensates expanding in a disordered environment.
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