Complex geometrical optics of nonlinear inhomogeneous fibres

This paper analyses the Gaussian beam (GB) evolution in nonlinear fibres with special attention given to the influence of the initial curvature of the wavefront and to the fibres' permittivity profile. The analysis is performed in the framework of paraxial complex geometrical optics (PCGO). This method reduces the problem of GB evolution in nonlinear and inhomogeneous media to the solution of ordinary differential equations, which can be easily solved either analytically or numerically. It is shown that the PCGO approach radically simplifies modelling of nonlinear phenomena in fibres as compared with standard methods of nonlinear optics such as the variational method approach and the method of moments. It is shown that the PCGO method readily supplies the solution of the nonlinear Schrodinger equation (NLS) for a self-focusing fibre with a focusing permittivity profile and provides a number of new results. The discussion on the interplay between the nonlinear (self-focusing and self-defocusing) and linear (focusing and defocusing) components of the total permittivity demonstrates the new possibilities to limit the collapse phenomenon in nonlinear fibres of Kerr type taking into account the effect of initial beam divergence.