Tripoli University

Electrical and Electronic

Postgraduate Department
Advanced Electromagnetics
EE612

SOLITON
WAVES
By:AbdulmoiedA.Omar
Supervisor:Dr.IbrahimSaleh
Semester:Fall2016
Date:1/2/2017
Contents:
Abstract
Chapter1:Introduction
Chapter2:SolitonWavesandnonlineartransmissionlines
Chapter3:SolitonWavesandOpticalFiber
Chapter4:SolitonWavesandPlasma
Summary
Abstract:
solitary waves has rich mathematical structure of thenonlinearwaveequations from which
theyarise.Wefocusonathepresenceofsolitonwavesinsomecommonphysicalmedialike
transmissionlines,opticalfibers,andplasmas
Introduction
HistoricalReview
whileconductingexperimentstodeterminethemostefficientdesignforcanalboats,ayoungScottishengineer
namedJohnScottRussell(1808-1882)madearemarkablescientificdiscovery.

"I was observing the motion of a boat which was rapidly drawn along a narrow channel by a
pair of horses, when the boat suddenly stopped-not so the mass of water in the channel which
it had put in motion; it accumulated round the prow of the vessel in a state of violent agitation,
then suddenly leaving it behind rolled forward with great velocity, assuming the form of a large
solitary elevation, a rounded, smooth and well defined heap of water, which continued its
course along the channel apparently without change of form or diminution of speed.

I followed it on horseback, and overtook it still rolling on at a rate of some eight or nine miles
an hour, preserving its original figure some thirty feet long and a foot to a foot and a half in
height. its height gradually diminished, and after a chase of one or two miles I lost it in the
windings of the channel. Such. in the month of August 1834, was my first chance interview with
that singular and beautiful phenomenon which I have called the Wave of Translation.
UnionCanal,Edinburgh,12July1995.
Linear and Nonlinear Systems:
First,letusconsiderattimetheresponseofalinearsystem,anamplifierforexample,toan
inputsignalofangularfrequency).

Thesumoftwoinputsignalsandyields

a response which is the superposition of

thetwooutputsignals,

Next,iftheamplitudeoftheinputsignalgetsverylarge,distortionoccursasamanifestation
ofoverloading.Inthiscase,theresponseisnolongerproportionaltotheexcitation;onehas

andsignalsatfrequenciesandsoon,thatis,harmonicstheinputsignalaregenerated.

For many waves, nonlinearity introduces a new feature which is due to the generation of
harmonics: the crest of the wave moves faster than the rest, in other words point of large
amplitudeovertakepointsofsmallamplitude,andthewaveshocksandultimatelybreaks.

A solitary wave, as discovered experimentally by Scott Russell, is a localized wave that

propagatesalongonespacedirectiononly,withunreformedshape.Asoliton,asdiscovered
numerically by Zabusky and Kruskal, is a large amplitude coherent pulse or very stable
solitarywave.
a soliton is a self-reinforcing solitary wave packet, that maintains its shape while it
ropagates at a constant velocity. Solitons are caused by a cancellation of nonlinear and
dispersive effects in the medium. (The term dispersive effects refers to a property of
ertainsystemswherethespeedofthewavesvariesaccordingtofrequency).Solitonsarethe
solutionsofawidespreadclassofweaklynonlineardispersivepartialdifferentialequations
describingphysicalsystems.

Drazin&Johnson(1989,p.15)ascribethreepropertiestosolitons:

1. Theyareofpermanentform;
2. Theyarelocalizedwithinaregion;
3. Theycaninteractwithothersolitons,andemergefromthecollision,unchanged,except
foraphaseshift.
Manyexactlysolvablemodelshavesolitonsolutions,includingtheKortewegdeVries(KdV)
equation, the nonlinear Schrdinger equation, the coupled nonlinear Schrdinger equation,
and the sine-Gordon equation. The soliton solutions are typically obtained by means of the
inversescatteringtransformandowetheirstabilitytotheintegrabilityofthefieldequations.
. A topological soliton, also called a topological defect, is any solution of a set of partial
differentialequationsthatisstableagainstdecaytothetrivialsolution.Solitonstabilityis
duetotopologicalconstraints,ratherthanintegrabilityofthefieldequations.Theconstraints
arisealmostalwaysbecausethedifferentialequationsmustobeyasetofboundaryconditions,
andtheboundaryhasanon-trivialhomotopygroup,preservedbythedifferentialequations.
Examples of topological solitons include the screw dislocation in a crystalline lattice, the
Dirac string and the magnetic monopole in electromagnetism, the Skyrmion and the Wess
ZuminoWitten model in quantum field theory, the magnetic skyrmion in condensed matter
physics,andcosmicstringsanddomainwallsincosmology.
SolitarySolutionSoliton:

Thereexistsasinglesolutiontothepropagationequation.
Wave Propagation in Nonlinear Media
Maxwellsequations

Constitutiverelations
NonlinearMaxwellequationsgoverningtheelectric(E)andmagnetic(B)fields:

withconstitutivelaw

Thenonlineartermisthenonlinearrefractiveindex,arisingfromtheKerreffect;inregions

ofhighintensitytherefractiveindexishigher.Theconstitutivelaw,prescribesasaalocal
functionof.Thus,chromaticdispersion,whicharisesdueatime-nonlocalrelationbetween
and E has been neglected. For simplicity, we assume , which can be arranged by a simple
scaling.
 Soliton Waves

and

Nonlinear Transmission Lines

Linear dispersive waves
Interestingdispersivephenomenatakeplacewhenthephasevelocityandthegroupvelocity
of a wave depend on its wave number (or wavelength). Specifically, the different wave
componentswhichpropagateatdifferentvelocitiesseparateordispersefromeachother,as
weshallseeinthissection.

DispersiveTransmissionLines
Letusconsideracontinuoustransmissionlineofthetypewhichhasanadditionalinductance
perunitlengthinparallelwithasshowninFig


wederivethedispersionrelation

And

The nonlinear transmission line (NLTL) can be constructed from a linear transmission line,
suchascoplanarstripline(CPS),byperiodicallyloadingitwithvaractors,suchasreverse-
biased PN junction diodes or MOS capacitors. Varactors are nonlinear capacitors, whose
capacitance changes with the applied voltage. An NLTL can be alternatively obtained by
replacinglinearcapacitorsofanartificialLCtransmissionlinewithvaractorsasshown

ThislatterimplementationisanexactanalogtothenonlinearlatticestudiedbyFermi,Pasta
andUlam,wherethemassesarereplacedbyinductorsandthenonlinearspringsbyvaractors.
TheNLTLisanonlineardispersivesystemwhichsupportstheformationandpropagationof
electricalsolitons.Thenonlinearityoriginatesfromthevaractors.Thedispersionarisesfrom
thestructuralperiodicity
TodaLattice
WecanderivetheunderlyingdynamicsoftheNLTLbysolvingthenodalequationsforthe
voltagesandcurrents

which is nothing more than a special lattice known as the Toda lattice, where the force
between masses is replaced by the voltage between sections of the NLTL ( is simply a
constant).
NLTLLattice
Webeginbyassumingasimplerformforthecharge-voltagerelationshipofthevaractorsin
theNLTL



thesolitarywavesolutionisgivenas:

or,

We conclude this section by noting that the argument of sech is written in terms of the

normalized amplitude, , such that the soliton properties, e.g., velocity and width, are
determinedbythisparameter.
Soliton Waves
and
Optical Fiber
FundamentalConcepts
Inoptics,thetermsolitonisusedtorefertoanyopticalfieldthatdoesnotchangeduring
propagationbecauseofadelicatebalancebetweennonlinearandlineareffectsinthemedium.
Therearetwomainkindsofsolitons
spatialsolitons:thenonlineareffectcanbalancethediffraction.Theelectromagneticfield
canchangetherefractiveindexofthemediumwhilepropagating,thuscreatingastructure
likeagraded-indexfiber.Ifthefieldisalsoapropagatingmodeoftheguideithascreated,
thenitwillremainconfinedanditwillpropagatewithoutchangingitsshape
temporalsolitons:iftheelectromagneticfieldisalreadyspatiallyconfined,itispossibleto
sendpulsesthatwillnotchangetheirshapebecausethenonlineareffectswillbalancethe
dispersion. Those solitons were discovered first and they are often simply referred as
solitonsinoptics.
To understand how a spatial soliton can exist, we must make some considerations about a

simpleconvexlens.Asshowninthefigure3.1ontheright,anopticalfieldapproachesthe
lensandthenitisfocused.Theeffectofthelensistointroduceanon-uniformphasechange
thatcausesfocusing.Thisphasechangeisafunctionofthespaceandcanberepresentedwith
,whoseshapeisapproximatelyrepresentedinthepicture.Thephasechangecanbeexpressed
astheproductofthephaseconstantandthewidthofthepaththefieldhascovered.Wecan
writeitas:

AnelectricfieldispropagatinginamediumshowingopticalKerreffect,sotherefractive

indexisgivenby:

NowwemustsolvetheHelmholtzequation:

Whichcouldbewrittenas:

ThisisacommonequationknownasnonlinearSchrdingerequation.Fromthisform,wecan

understandthephysicalmeaningoftheparameterN:

if,thenwecanneglectthenonlinearpartoftheequation.Itmeans,thenthefieldwillbe
affectedbythelineareffect(diffraction)muchearlierthanthenonlineareffect,itwilljust
diffractwithoutanynonlinearbehavior.
if,thenthenonlineareffectwillbemoreevidentthandiffractionand,becauseofself-phase
modulation,thefieldwilltendtofocus.
if,thenthetwoeffectsbalanceeachotherandwemustsolvetheequation.

ForN=1thesolutionoftheequationissimpleanditisthefundamentalsoliton:

It still depends on , but only in phase, so the shape of the field will not change during

propagation.
Foritisstillpossibletoexpressthesolutioninaclosedform,butithasamorecomplicated

form:

Forsolitonsolutions,mustbeanintegeranditissaidtobetheorderorthesoliton.Forhigher

valuesof,therearenoclosedformexpressions,butthesolitonsexistandtheyareallperiodic
withdifferentperiods.

Generation of spatial solitons
The first experiment on spatial optical solitons was reported in 1974 by Ashkin and
Bjorkholminacellfilledwithsodiumvapor.Thefieldwasthenrevisitedinexperimentsat
LimogesUniversityinliquidcarbondisulphideandexpandedintheearly'90swiththefirst
observationofsolitonsinphotorefractivecrystals,glass,semiconductorsandpolymers.
Temporalsolitons
The main problem that limits transmission bit rate in optical fibers is group velocity
dispersion.Itisbecausegeneratedimpulseshaveanon-zerobandwidthandthemediumthey
are propagating through has a refractive index that depends on frequency (or wavelength).
ThiseffectisrepresentedbythegroupdelaydispersionparameterD;usingit,itispossibleto
calculateexactlyhowmuchthepulsewillwiden:

there is a standard Gaussian pulse, thats the envelope of the field oscillating at a defined
frequency.Weassumethatthefrequencyremainsperfectlyconstantduringthepulse.Nowwe
letthispulsepropagatethroughafiberwith,itwillbeaffectedbygroupvelocitydispersion.
For this sign of , the dispersion is anomalous, so that the higher frequency components will
propagate a little bit faster than the lower frequencies, thus arriving before at the end of the
fiber.Theoverallsignalwegetisawiderchirpedpulse,
NowletusassumewehaveamediumthatshowsonlynonlinearKerreffectbutitsrefractive
indexdoesnotdependonfrequency:suchamediumdoesnotexist,butitsworthconsidering
ittounderstandthedifferenteffects.Thephaseofthefieldisgivenby:

thefrequency(accordingtoitsdefinition)isgivenby:

thissituationisrepresentedinthepicture.Atthebeginningofthepulsethefrequencyislower,
attheenditshigher.Afterthepropagationthroughouridealmedium,wewillgetachirped
pulsewithnobroadeningbecausewehaveneglecteddispersion.
Consideringhigherfrequencies,lineardispersionwilltendtoletthempropagatefaster,while
nonlinearKerreffectwillslowthemdown.Theoveralleffectwillbethatthepulsedoesnot
changewhilepropagating:suchpulsesarecalledtemporalsolitons.
Stability of solitons
Wehavedescribedwhatopticalsolitonsareand,usingmathematics,wehaveseenthat,ifwe

wanttocreatethem,wemustcreateafieldwithashape(justsechforthefirstorder)witha
powerrelatedtothedurationoftheimpulse.Butwhatifweareabitwrongincreatingsuch
impulses? Adding small perturbations to the equations and solving them numerically, it is
possibletoshowthatmono-dimensionalsolitonsarestable.

Theyareoftenreferredassolitons,meaningthattheyarelimitedinonedimension(or,as
wehaveseen)andpropagateinanotherone().
Theonlywaytocreateaspatialsolitonistolimitthefieldontheyaxisusingadielectric

slab,thenlimitingthefieldonxusingthesoliton.
Soliton Waves
and
Plasma
Introduction
plasma is sometimes referred to as the fourth state of matter (e.g. Clemmow and Dougherty,
1969).Theplasmastateisachievedbysignificantheatingofagassothatelectronsseparate
from the atomic nuclei, resulting in a partly ionized medium. This medium will respond to
electromagneticfields,whichintroducenewdynamicsandadditionalphenomenacomparedto
thosefoundinneutralgases.

Morethan99%ofthevisiblematterintheuniverseisthoughttobeintheplasmastateand
plasmaoccurrencescoverdistantstarsgleamingonaclearnight,flickeringauroraborealis
(northernlights)andlivelycampfires.Industrialproductsandapplicationsinvolvingplasmas
includeplasmascreens,metalsprocessing,andthermonuclearfusion.
Basic Plasma Concepts
The term plasma was first used by Langmuir (1928) and Tonks and Langmuir (1929) to
describearegioncontainingbalancedchargesofionsandelectrons
DebyeShielding
Theelectrostaticpotential(r)atadistancerfromatestparticleofchargeqinvacuumis:

Inserting such a test particle in a spatially uniform and neutral plasma will attract and repel
particlesofsimilarandoppositepolarities,respectively.Theattractedparticleswillpartially
cancelthetestparticlepotential,aprocesscalledshieldingorscreening.
Theresultingpotential,theYukawapotential,isgivenby

whereistheDebyelength,aconceptoriginatingfromthetheoryofelectrolytes(Debyeand

Hckel,1923).ItisdefinedintermsofthespeciesDebyelengths

Asmall(large)Debyelengthcorrespondstoarapidly(slowly)decayingpotentialwith
distancefromatestcharge.
Theplasmaapproximation
alargenumberofplasmaparticlesarerequiredintheshieldingcloudofradius,which
introducestheplasmaparameterdefinedby

TheassumptionofmanyparticlesintheDebyespherecorrespondstoandiscalledtheplasma
approximation,wherecollectivebehaviordominatesovertheeffectsofindividualparticles.

Quasineutrality
Theplasmawasassumedtobeinitiallychargeneutral.Itcanbeshownthatplasmastoalarge
extent remain close to, but not exactly, neutral on scale lengths much larger than the Debye
length.Thisisbecauseaplasmaingeneraldoesnothavesufficientinternalenergytogenerate
large-scalenon-neutralities.Thisbehaviorisoftenreferredtoasquasineutrality.
Magneticpressure
A plasma is by nature diamagnetic, i.e. it will act repulsively to external magnetic fields.
Therefore, a magnetic pressure can balance the kinetic pressure of the plasma at a boundary
betweenaplasmaandamagneticfield.Toquantifytherelativeimportanceofthekineticand
magneticpressures,theparameterplasmabetaisintroduced;

Inertiallengths

Theinertiallengthforspeciesisgivenby:

Plasmafrequency
The inertial frequency of this harmonic oscillation in a quasineutral plasma is the plasma
frequency,whichforspeciesisgivenby

Summary
variousnonlinearwaveequationsarisinginmathematicalphysicsandinvestigateexistenceate
ofsolutionstotheseequationsusingvariationallymethods.
Weintroducedtheconceptofsolitarywaves,whicharefascinatingcoherentstructuresarising
from a balance of linear and nonlinear effects. Also, we presented a physical model whose
solitary wave solutions can be interpreted as matter particles with space extension and finite
energy,givinganalternativetothinkingofparticlesassingularitiesofafield.
Future work on the Dark Solitons and their relation to soliton EM waves and mathematical
investigationonthesolitonwavesinplasms.
THANK YOU
"Anywhereyoufindwavesyoufindsolitons."
Randall Hulet, Rice University, On creating solitons in
Bose-Einstein condensates, Dallas Morning News, May 20, 2002