Statistical properties of stimulated Brillouin scattering in single-mode optical fibers above threshold

We performed numerical simulations to obtain statistical and spectral characteristics of stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) initiated by Gaussian noise in single-mode optical fibers. Recently published experimental spectra of SBS power [e.g., Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 1879 (2000)] are explained completely by a one-dimensional SBS model. We give a clear physical insight into the problem and, for what is to our knowledge the first time, reveal how the probability function of Stokes power, the power-correlation function, and the SBS spectra evolve as key parameters of the model vary, leading to a modification of Stokes field statistics. (C) 2002 Optical Society of America.