Effect of phase shift in shape changing collision of solitons in coupled nonlinear Schrodinger equations

Soliton interactions in systems modelled by coupled nonlinear Schrodinger (CNLS) equations and encountered in phenomena such as wave propagation in optical fibers and photorefractive media possess unusual features: shape changing intensity redistributions, amplitude dependent phase shifts and relative separation distances. We demonstrate these properties in the case of integrable 2-CNLS equations. As a simple example, we consider the stationary two-soliton solution which is equivalent to the so-called partially coherent soliton (PCS) solution discussed much in the recent literature.