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Handbook of Optical Fibers pp 373–419Cite as

Shock Waves

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Abstract

We discuss the physics of shock waves with special emphasis on the phenomena related to the field of nonlinear fiber optics. We first introduce the general mechanism commonly known as gradient catastrophe and the related concept of classical shock waves. Then we proceed to discuss the possible regularization mechanisms of the shock, and in particular the dispersive regularization, which is behind the formation of dispersive shock waves in fibers. We then discuss different possible scenarios that lead to observe the formation of dispersive shock waves in fibers, such as pulse propagation, four-wave mixing, and passive resonators, also showing that fibers allow for investigating the dispersive regime of classical problems related to the physics of shock such as the dam-break problem and the propagation of Riemann waves. We also discuss the phase-matching mechanism that induces the shock to efficiently radiate resonant radiation in the normal dispersion regime. Throughout the text we refer to the mathematical models and the approaches that are employed to describe such phenomena.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Engineering, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy

    Stefano Trillo

  2. CNRS, UMR 8523, PhLAM – Physique des Lasers Atomes et Molécules, University of Lille, Lille, France

    Matteo Conforti

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  1. Stefano Trillo
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  2. Matteo Conforti
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Correspondence to Stefano Trillo .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Photonics and Optical Communications, School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Gang-Ding Peng

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Trillo, S., Conforti, M. (2019). Shock Waves. In: Peng, GD. (eds) Handbook of Optical Fibers. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7087-7_16

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