Higher-order equilibria of temporal soliton molecules in dispersion-managed fibers

Bound states of two or three solitons in dispersion-managed fibers (soliton molecules) were experimentally demonstrated recently. We investigate with a modified perturbation analysis whether the binding mechanism creates a unique stable equilibrium of the relative positions of the solitons in the molecule. Indeed, we find a multitude of equilibrium states, alternatingly stable and unstable. This holds for either case: nearest neighbor solitons having the same or the opposite phase. The number of equilibria are limited by the level of the radiation background. The state with the smallest separation and the highest binding energy (ground state) always occurs for opposite-phase pulses; the lowest-order state for in-phase pulses is always unstable. Stable long-chain molecules can be built with a mixture of different nearest-neighbor equilibrium separations. Our results agree with our numerical simulations and experimental results, and connect well with certain results in the literature.