Title: Attractors (?) in Nonlinear Fiber Amplifiers for Ultrashort Light Pulses

Abstract: The propagation of ultrashort light pulses in optical fiber is modeled by nonlinear-Schrodinger or Ginzburg-Landau-type equations. Recent work has identified a new solution of the coupled equations that govern the pulse propagation and the population inversion in a fiber amplifier. The amplified pulse is stable despite accumulating huge nonlinear phase shifts, and this property underlies new high-power amplifiers and lasers. Experimental observations of the new solution exhibit some of the properties of an attractor, but a systematic theoretical description is lacking. The talk will begin with a tutorial introduction to nonlinear pulse propagation in optical fiber.

Bio: Frank Wise received a BS in Engineering Physics from Princeton University, an MS in Electrical Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley, and a PhD in Applied Physics from Cornell University. Before PhD studies, he worked on integrated-circuit fabrication at Bell Laboratories.  Since receiving the PhD in 1988, he has been on the faculty in Applied Physics at Cornell. From 2007 to 2011 he was the Director of the School of Applied and Engineering Physics, and from 2017 to 2024 he was the Director of the Cornell Center for Materials Research.