Optical rogue wave statistics in laser filamentation

We experimentally observed optical rogue wave statistics during high power femtosecond pulse filamentation in air. We characterized wavelength-dependent intensity fluctuations across 300 nm broadband filament spectra generated by pulses with several times the critical power for filamentation. We show how the statistics vary from a near- Gaussian distribution in the vicinity of the pump to a long tailed L-shaped distribution at the short wavelength and long wavelength edges. The results are interpreted in terms of pump noise transfer via self-phase modulation. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America