Extended self-similarity in multimode optical fiber speckles

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Complex Systems Analysis
• Statistical Physics

Background:

• Extended Self-Similarity (ESS) is a key tool for identifying power-law scaling in nonlinear systems.
• Understanding scaling in complex systems is crucial for diverse scientific fields.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the emergence of ESS scaling in a purely linear physical system.
• To determine if ESS is exclusive to nonlinear dynamics or applicable to linear phenomena.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of intensity structure functions in speckle patterns.
• Studying coherent light propagation through multimode optical fibers.
• Comparing measured scaling exponents with established theories like Kolmogorov scaling.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated ESS scaling in a system governed by linear physics (light propagation in multimode fibers).
• Observed complex speckle patterns resulting from deterministic linear mode interference.
• Measured scaling exponents consistent with classical Kolmogorov scaling exponents.

Conclusions:

• ESS scaling is not limited to nonlinear systems and can arise in complex linear systems.
• The findings broaden the applicability of ESS as a universal scaling analysis framework.
• Linear mode interference in optical fibers can produce statistical signatures previously associated with nonlinear dynamics.