Hamiltonian and phase-space representation of spatial solitons

We use Hamiltonian ray tracing and phase-space representation to describe the propagation of a single spatial soliton and soliton collisions in a Kerr nonlinear medium. Hamiltonian ray tracing is applied using the iterative nonlinear beam propagation method, which allows taking both wave effects and Kerr nonlinearity into consideration. Energy evolution within a single spatial soliton and the exchange of energy when two solitons collide are interpreted intuitively by ray trajectories and geometrical shearing of the Wigner distribution functions. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.