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 Optics Communications 275 (2007) 421–428
www.elsevier.com/locate/optcom

Modulational instability in the cubic–quintic nonlinear

py
Schrödinger equation through the variational approach
Fabien II Ndzana a, Alidou Mohamadou a,b,c,*
, Timoléon Crépin Kofané a

co
a
Laboratory of Mechanics, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Yaoundé I, P.O. Box 812, Yaoundé, Cameroon
b
Condensed Matter Laboratory, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Douala, P.O. Box 24157, Douala, Cameroon
c
The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, P.O. Box 586, Strada Costiera, 11, I-34014 Trieste, Italy

Received 10 July 2006; received in revised form 14 February 2007; accepted 14 February 2007

Abstract

al
on
The dynamics of nonlinear pulse propagation in an average dispersion-managed soliton system is governed by a constant coefficient
nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) equation. For a special set of parameters the constant coefficient NLS equation is completely integrable.
The same constant coefficient NLS equation is also applicable to optical fiber systems with phase modulation or pulse compression. We
also investigate MI arising in the cubic–quintic nonlinear Schrödinger equation for ultrashort pulse propagation. Within this framework,
rs

we derive ordinary differential equations (ODE’s) for the time evolution of the amplitude and phase of modulation perturbations. Ana-
lyzing the ensuing ODE’s, we derive the classical modulational instability criterion and identify it numerically. We show that the quintic
nonlinearity can be essential for the stability of solutions. The evolutions of modulational instability are numerically investigated and the
effects of the quintic nonlinearity on the evolutions are examined. Numerical simulations demonstrate the validity of the analytical
pe

predictions.
Ó 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

PACS: 05.45.Yv; 42.65.Tg; 02.30.Hq

Keywords: Variational approximation; Cubic–quintic nonlinear Schrödinger equation; Pulse solitons

r's

1. Introduction and dispersion, one can name the modulational instability

(MI). Modulational instability by which a plane wave
The interplay between nonlinearity and dispersion is a breaks up into high filament intensity is a ubiquitous phe-
o

central topic of nonlinear science [1]. This raises a number nomenon that occurs in many branches of physics [6]. It is
of unsolved mathematical questions, deeply related to the a symmetry breaking instability so that a small perturba-
th

behavior of many physical systems, ranging from optical tion on top of a constant amplitude background experi-
fibers and waveguides [2], polaronic material [3], biological ences exponential growth, and this leads to wave break
molecules [4] as well as the dynamic of trapped dilute Bose– up in either space or time. Since this disintegration typically
Au

Einstein condensates [5]. In particular, it is highly desirable
to understand how dispersion is compensated by nonlin-
earity. As a result of the interplays between nonlinearity
*
Corresponding author. Address: Condensed Matter Laboratory,
Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Douala, P.O.
Box 24157, Douala, Cameroon. Tel.: +237 775 69 17; fax: +237 222 18 73.
E-mail addresses: ndzanafabienii@yahoo.com (F.II Ndzana),
mohdoufr@yahoo.fr (A. Mohamadou).
occurs in the same parameters region where bright solitons
are observed, MI is considered, to some extent, a precursor
to solitons formation [7]. In nonlinear optics, the NLS is
used to describe the evolution of short pulses in nonlinear
fibres, MI is one of the factors which reduce the efficiency
of long-haul optical transmission systems. Recent investi-
gations on the propagation of light pulses through optical
fibers [1–3] and optical fiber laser [4,5] have considerable
aroused interest in the study of nonlinear effects described

0030-4018/$ - see front matter Ó 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.optcom.2007.02.036
422 F.II Ndzana et al. / Optics Communications 275 (2007) 421–428

by the NLS and higher-order nonlinear Schrödinger and constitute exact solutions of the nonlinear Schrödinger
(HNLS) equation [1,6,7]. In physics problems, the quintic equation with a dispersion relation
nonlinearity can be equal to or even more important than
x ¼ Pk 2  Q1 w20  Q2 w40 : ð3Þ
the cubic one [2,8] as it is responsible for stability of local-
ized solutions. Here, we revisit the MI criteria in the cubic– Then, the MI is examined in the LS framework using the
quintic nonlinear Schrödinger (QNLS) equation [9], but linearization
using a time-dependent variational approach (TDVA). wðx; tÞ ¼ ðw0 þ ecðx; tÞÞ exp i½ðkx  xtÞ þ edðx; tÞ; ð4Þ
The evolution of pulse envelope in an optical fibre may

py
be described by the NLS equation: and analyzing the Oð2Þ terms as
2 4
iwt ¼ P wxx  Q1 jwj w  Q2 jwj w: ð1Þ cðx; tÞ ¼ c0 expðibðx; tÞÞ; and dðx; tÞ ¼ d 0 expðibðx; tÞÞ:
The NLS is used for the modeling of wave processes in dif- ð5Þ
ferent physical systems such as nonlinear optics [10,11], cir-

co
Using bðx; tÞ ¼ qx  Xt, the dispersion relation connecting
cular polarized Alfven waves in plasma [12], Stokes waves the wave number q and frequency X of the perturbation
in fluids of finite depth, etc. In nonlinear optics [13], the (see e.g., Ref. [20])
NLS equation can be derived from a systematic way by 2
means of the reductive perturbation scheme as a model ðX  2qkÞ ¼ Pq2 ðPq2  2Q1 w20  4Q2 w40 Þ; ð6Þ
for single mode propagation. In the context of waveguides is obtained. This implies that the instability region for Eq. (1) ap-
as optical fibers, t usually corresponds to the propagation 2w2
pears for perturbation wave numbers q2 < P 0 ðQ1 þ 2Q2 w20 Þ,
distance of the electric field envelope w of an optical beam

al
and particularly only for focusing nonlinearities (to which
along the fiber, x plays the role of the time, in most natural we restrict this study).
2
cases, one assumes that the term Q1 jwj w corresponds to
self-focusing ðQ1 > 0Þ cubic (Kerr) nonlinearity competing
on
3. Variational approach to modulational instability
with its self-focusing ðQ2 > 0Þ quintic counterpart.
We examine MI using a time-dependent variational We now attempt to identify the interval of unstable
approach (TDVA), and study the result in comparison with wave numbers by means of the TDVA. Particularly, we
the standard linear stability (LS) calculations. It should be
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start from the Lagrangian L

mentioned that the use of TDVA for the study of solitons Z þ1  
at the classical [14] and even at the quantum [15] level is not i  2 1 4 1 6
L¼ ðw wt  wwt Þ  P jwx j þ Q1 jwj þ Q2 jwj dx;
new. What distinguishes the TDVA from these earlier ones 1 2 2 3
pe

is the use of the MI-motivated ansatz in the TDVA (see ð7Þ

below). We also note in passing, that MI and solitons from, and consider a modulation of the plane wave of the form
a quantum-mechanical point of view have been considered
in a number of references including (but not limited to) w ¼ fw0 þ aðtÞ exp½i/a ðtÞ expðiqxÞ þ bðtÞ exp½i/b ðtÞ
[16]. Furthermore, similar in spirit, a three-mode approxi-  expðiqxÞg exp½iðkx  xtÞ: ð8Þ
mation was systematically developed in the works of Ref.
However, instead of considering the modulation directly at
[17]. There are however, a number of differences between
r's

the level of the equation, one uses the modulational ansatz

the latter and the TDVA such as, for example, the use of
in the Lagrangian. This constitutes the basic new ingredient
the variational formulation of the problem (instead of the
of the variational-type approach to the MI.
application of the three-mode ansatz in the dynamical
We consider another (one-dimensional) geometry which
equation in the context of Ref. [17]), as well as the fact that
o

imposes periodic boundary conditions on the wave func-

we are perturbing around an exact plane wave solution. In
tion wðxÞ and integration limits 0 6 x 6 2p in Eq. (7). This
the case of Ref. [17], the plane wave is an additional mode
th

results in the quantization of the wave numbers

in the relevant expansion. Our presentation is structured as
k; q ¼ 0; 1; 2; . . .. However, this results can be easily
follows: in Section 2, we present the standard linear stabil-
generalized to the case of an infinite, open system and to
ity analysis of the QNLS equation. Section 3, presents the
Au

higher dimensions.
variational approach to MI. In Section 4 we present
After substitution of Eq. (8) into Eq. (7), we obtain the
numerical simulations to confirm analytical predictions.
variational Lagrangian
Section 5 concludes the paper. 
L ¼ p 2ða2 /0a þ b2 /0b Þ þ 2ðPk 2  Q1 w20  Q2 w40 Þðw20 þ a2 þ b2 Þ
2. Linear stability analysis
þQ1 ðw40 þ a4 þ b4 þ 4w20 ða2 þ b2 Þ þ 4a2 b2 þ 4abw20 cosð/a þ /b ÞÞ

In the linear stability framework (see, e.g., Refs. [18,19], 2P ðk 2 w20 þ k 2 ða2 þ b2 Þ þ ðq2 þ 2kqÞða2  b2 ÞÞ
and references therein, for relevant details), the stability of 2 
þ Q2 w60 þ a6 þ b6 þ 36a2 b2 w20 þ 9a2 b2 ða2 þ b2 Þ
the plane waves has been examined. The latter are of the 3
form þ9w20 ða4 þ b4 Þ þ 9w40 ða2 þ b2 Þ þ 12abw40 cosð/a þ /b Þ

wðx; tÞ ¼ w0 exp½iðkx  xtÞ; ð2Þ þ18abw20 ða2 þ b2 Þcosð/a þ /b Þ : ð9Þ
 F.II Ndzana et al. / Optics Communications 275 (2007) 421–428 423

It is clear from this Lagrangian that the pair /a ðtÞ and /b ðtÞ d oL oL
 ¼ 0;
can be interpreted as the generalized coordinates of the sys- dt oa0 oa
tem, while AðtÞ ¼ 2a2 ðtÞ and BðtÞ ¼ 2b2 ðtÞ are the corre- d/a
a ¼ aðQ1 w20 þ 2Q2 w40  Pq2  2PqkÞ þ bðQ1 w20
sponding momenta. In particular, the pairs AðtÞ; /a ðtÞ; BðtÞ dt
and /b ðtÞ are canonically conjugate with respect to the effec- þ Q2 w20 ð2w20 þ 3a2 þ b2 ÞÞ cosð/a þ /b Þ þ Q1 aða2 þ 2b2 Þ
tive Hamiltonian þ Q2 ða5 þ 3ab4 þ 6a3 b2 þ 3w20 ð2a3 þ 4ab2 ÞÞ;

d oL oL
H eff ¼ ðQ1 w20 þ 2Q2 w40  Pq2 ÞðA þ BÞ  2kqP ðA  BÞ  ¼ 0; ð11Þ
dt o/0a o/a

py
pffiffiffiffiffiffi Q daðtÞ
þ 2Q1 w20 AB cosð/a þ /b Þ þ 1 ðA2 þ B2 þ 4ABÞ ¼ bðQ w2 þ Q2 w20 ð2w20 þ 3ða2 þ b2 ÞÞÞ sinð/a þ /b Þ;
4 dt
1 0
 3 3 d oL oL
Q A þB 9 9  ¼ 0; ð12Þ
þ 2 þ ABðA þ BÞ þ w20 ðA2 þ B2 Þ dt ob0 ob

co
3 4 4 2
pffiffiffiffiffiffi d/
b b ¼ bðQ1 w20  Pq2 þ 2Pqk þ Q2 w40 Þ
þ18ABw20 þ9w20 ðA þ BÞ AB cosð/a þ /b Þ dt
pffiffiffiffiffiffi i þ Q2 ðb5 þ 3a4 b þ 6a2 b3 þ 12a2 b þ 6w20 b3 Þ þ Q1 ðb2 þ 2a2 Þb
þ12w40 AB cosð/a þ /b Þ ; ð10Þ þ aðQ1 w20 þ 2Q2 w40 þ Q2 w20 ða2 þ 3b2 ÞÞ cosð/a þ /b Þ;

d oL oL
which is an exact integral of motion on the subspace  ¼ 0; ð13Þ
dt o/0b o/b
spanned by Eq. (8). The Lagrangian equations of motion

al
are on and
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o r's
th
Au

Fig. 1. Modulational stability: (a) modulational stability in the case of the cubic NLS equation for the parameters: P ¼ 1:0; q ¼ 2; Q1 ¼ 0:4 and w0 ¼ 1:0.
(b) Modulational stability in the case of the quintic NLS equation for the parameters: P ¼ 1:0; q ¼ 2; Q1 ¼ 0:4, w0 ¼ 1:0 and Q2 ¼ 0:0885.
(c) Superposition of the amplitude of wave for the cubic NLS equation (solid line) and the quintic NLS equation (dashed line). Same parameters as in (a)
and (b).
424 F.II Ndzana et al. / Optics Communications 275 (2007) 421–428

py
co
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on
rs
pe

Fig. 2. Modulational instability: (a) modulational instability in the case of the cubic NLS equation for the parameters: P ¼ 1:0; q ¼ 1:888; Q1 ¼ 0:25 and
w0 ¼ 1:0. (b) Modulational instability in the case of the cubic NLS equation for the parameters: P ¼ 1:0; q ¼ 1:888; Q1 ¼ 0:25; w0 ¼ 1:0 and Q2 ¼ 0:0825.
(c) Superposition of the amplitude of wave for the cubic NLS equation (solid line) and the quintic NLS equation (dashed line). Same parameters as in (a)
and (b).

If we now keep all terms to OðaÞ in Eqs. (11)–(14)

r's

(which is consistent with an approximation linear in a)

we obtain
a ¼ b; ð15Þ
a0 ðtÞ ¼ a2 sin /; ð16Þ
o

/0 ðtÞ ¼ ða1 þ a3 Þ þ 2a2 cos /; ð17Þ

th

where
/ ¼ /a þ /b ; ð18aÞ
a1 ¼ Q1 w20 þ 2Q2 w40  2
Pq  2Pqk; ð18bÞ
Au

a3 ¼ Q1 w20 þ 2Q2 w40  2

Pq þ 2Pqk; ð18cÞ
a2 ¼ Q1 w20 þ 2Q2 w40 : ð18dÞ
Fig. 3. The effective potential of Eq. (24) is shown as a function of A for The latter equation has the solution
different values of q: (solid line for the cubic NLS equation and dashed line
2
2qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
for the cubic–quintic NLS equation). P p ¼ffiffi1;
ffi w0 ¼ 1; Q1 ¼ 1 and ð2Q1 w20 þ 4Q2 w40  q2 P Þðq2 P Þ
Q2 ¼ 0:0485 for different values of qðq ¼ 1; q ¼ 2; q ¼ 2Þ. /ðtÞ ¼ 2 arctan 4
q2 P
3
dbðtÞ qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
¼ aðQ1 w20 þ Q2 w20 ð2w20 þ 3ða2 þ b2 ÞÞÞ sinð/a þ /b Þ:
dt  tan ð2Q1 w20 þ 4Q2 w40  q2 P Þðq2 P Þt5: ð19Þ
ð14Þ
 F.II Ndzana et al. / Optics Communications 275 (2007) 421–428 425

Two different cases arise here, corresponding, respectively, q ¼ 2, P ¼ 1, w0 ¼ 1:0 and Q1 ¼ 0:4 for the cubic
to whether the instability criterion is satisfied or not. (Fig. 1a) and P ¼ 1:0, w0 ¼ 1:0, q ¼ 2:0, Q1 ¼ 0:4 and
2w2  
Namely when q2  P 0 Q1 þ 2Q2 w20 < 0 the solution of Q2 ¼ 0:0885 for the quintic (Fig. 1b). In this perspective,
Eq. (16) is one sees that in the case of the cubic NLS equation (solid

line), the wave oscillates with a short wavelength, while
2Q1 w20 þ 4Q2 w40
aðtÞ  1  for the quintic NLS equation (dashed line), these waves
q2 P also evolve with a slightly short wavelength but with an
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
12
amplitude which has decreased (Fig. 1c). As the system is
 sin2 ðPq2  2Q1 w20  4Q2 w40 Þðq2 P Þ t : ð20Þ

py
in a stable regime, the amplitude evolves with a sinusoidal
2w2 shape. Fig. 2 presents the case of modulational instability
While when q2  P 0 ðQ1 þ 2Q2 w20 Þ > 0 the solution of Eq. for the parameters P ¼ 1:0; q ¼ 1:888; w0 ¼ 1:0 and Q1 ¼
(16) is 0:25, for the cubic (Fig. 2a) and P ¼ 1:0; w0 ¼


co
2Q1 w20 þ 4Q2 w40 1:0; Q1 ¼ 0:25; Q2 ¼ 0:0825 and q ¼ 1:888 in the case of
aðtÞ  1 þ
q2 P the quintic (Fig. 2b). Here, we see that amplitudes have
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
12 an exponential growth. In Fig 2c, we have plotted the
 sinh2 ð2Q1 w20 þ 4Q2 w40  q2 P Þðq2 P Þ t : ð21Þ amplitude aðtÞ for positive ðQ2 ¼ 0:125Þ and negative
ðQ2 ¼ 0:0825Þ sign of the quintic nonlinearity. We
The solutions signal the appearance of the MI when the observe that the amplitude of the cubic equation interpo-
threshold condition Pq2 ¼ 2Q1 w20 þ 4Q2 w40 is crossed (pass- lates between the amplitude of the quintic equation for

al
ing from higher to lower perturbation wave numbers). both signs of Q2 . It is very strange to obtain that the quintic
Figs. 1 and 2 show the time evolution of aðtÞ in accordance amplitude (for Q2 ¼ 0:0825) exponentially grow before
with solutions Eqs. (20) and (21), respectively. Fig. 1 the amplitude of the cubic equation (Fig. 2c). This result
on
depicts the case of modulational stability for the parameters would be numerically checked in the next section.
rs
pe
o r's
th
Au

Fig. 4. Numerical simulation of modulational stability: (a) time evolution of aðtÞ, stable oscillation indicate that the system is stable. Same parameters as
in Fig. 1a. (b) Time evolution of aðtÞ, stable oscillation indicate that the system is stable. Same parameters as in Fig. 1b. (c) Time evolution of aðtÞ for the
cubic NLS equation (solid line) and the quintic NLS equation (dashed line). Same parameters as in Figs. 1a and b.
426 F.II Ndzana et al. / Optics Communications 275 (2007) 421–428

py
co
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on
rs

Fig. 5. Numerical simulation of modulational instability: (a) time evolution of aðtÞ, the exponential growth indicate that the system is unstable. Same
pe

parameters as in Fig. 2a. (b) Time evolution of aðtÞ, the exponential growth indicates that the system is unstable. Same parameters as in Fig. 2b. (c) Time
evolution of aðtÞ, for the cubic NLS equation (solid line) and the quintic NLS equation (dashed line). Same parameters as in Figs. 2a and b.
o r's
th
Au

Fig. 6. Wave train: (a) the amplitude of waves appears as a train of soliton-like objects at position x ¼ 10, when the system is unstable for the parameters:
P ¼ 1:0; q ¼ 1:888; w0 ¼ 1:0; k ¼ 1:0; Q1 ¼ 0:25 and Q2 ¼ 0:0. (b) The amplitude of waves appears as a train of soliton-like objects at position x ¼ 10, when
the system is unstable for the parameters: P ¼ 1:0; q ¼ 1:888; w0 ¼ 1:0; k ¼ 1:0; Q1 ¼ 0:25 and Q2 ¼ 0:125.

An alternative, more intuitive way to appreciate the from Eqs. (12) and (14) in Eq. (10), we have the
linear stability results from a dynamical viewpoint. This Hamiltonian

consists of reducing Eqs. (11)–(14) to a one degree of e
H eff ¼ p 2ðQ1 w20 þ 2Q2 w40  Pq2 Þ þ 2Q1 w20 A cosð/Þ
freedom setting with an effective potential energy land- 
scape whose (parametric) variation will elucidate the 3Q1 2 Q2
þ A þ ½5A3 þ 27w20 A2 þ 18w20 A2 cosð/Þ þ 12w40 Acosð/Þ
instability. Along these lines, using Aðt ¼ 0Þ ¼ 0 in 2 3
(without loss of generality) in Eq. (9) and AðtÞ ¼ BðtÞ ¼ 0: ð22Þ
 F.II Ndzana et al. / Optics Communications 275 (2007) 421–428 427

py
co
Fig. 7. Wave train: (a) modulational instability has broken the initial wave into pulse at position x ¼ 15 for the parameters:
P ¼ 1:0; q ¼ 1:888; w0 ¼ 1:0; k ¼ 1:0; Q1 ¼ 0:25 and Q2 ¼ 0:0. (b) Modulational instability has broken the initial wave into pulse at position x ¼ 15 for
the parameters: P ¼ 1:0; q ¼ 1:888; w0 ¼ 1:0; k ¼ 1:0; Q1 ¼ 0:25 and Q2 ¼ 0:125.

Eliminating / from Eqs. (12) and (22) for Aðt ¼ 0Þ ¼ 0 tude of unstable sideband growths exponentially. Further-
we have obtained the ‘‘energy equation’’ for A more, the linear stability analysis neglects additional

al
combination waves generated through wave-mixing pro-
A_ 2
þ V eff ¼ 0: ð23Þ cess which, albeit small at the initial stage can become sig-
2 nificant at large time scales if the system is in the unstable
on
The effective potential V eff ðAÞ is of the form: regime. Linear stability analysis therefore cannot tell us
" the long-time evolution of a modulated extended nonlin-
A2
V eff ¼ 4ðQ1 w20 þ 2Q2 w40 þ 3Q2 Aw20 Þ2 ear wave. In order to check the validity of our analytical
2

2 # analysis and to investigate the time evolution of modulated
rs

2 4 2 3 5 2 2 nonlinear plane waves, we carried out numerical experi-

 2ðQ1 w0 þ 2Q2 w0  Pq Þ þ Q1 A þ Q2 A þ 9Q2 Aw0 :
2 3 ments on Eq. (1). The fourth-order Runge–Kutta scheme
ð24Þ with normalized integration time step h0 ¼ 5  103 and
pe

space step h1 ¼ 5 has been used to integrate the system.

One can then examine the stability of the effective potential
by evaluating its curvature at A = 0. We thus obtain
V 00eff ðAÞ ¼ 4Pq2 ðPq2  2Q1 w20  4Q2 w40 Þ and hence the poten-
tial will be convex and therefore the dynamics will be stable
for Pq2 > 2Q1 w20 þ 4Q2 w40 while it will be concave (and the
dynamics unstable) for 2Q1 w20 þ 4Q2 w40 > Pq2 . Hence in this
r's
The simulations have been performed with periodic bound-
ary conditions. As localized initial condition, in accordance
with the analytical part, we take the modulated wave solu-
tion Eq. (8).
In Fig. 4, for the same parameters of Fig. 1, with
k ¼ 1:0, we launch the initial condition through the system.

case also, we retrieve the MI criterion. The effective poten-
tial is shown for the MI stable, unstable, and marginal case
in Fig. 3 for P ¼ 1, w20 ¼ 1, Q1 ¼ 1, Q2 ¼ 0:0485 and differ-
pffiffiffi
ent values of qðq ¼ 1; q ¼ 2; q ¼ 2Þ. Fig. 3 also clearly
o
From the analytical investigation, the stability is predicted.
We observe that the initial wave evolve with a sinusoidal
shape as depicted in Fig. 4. We note that the amplitude
of the cubic equation (Fig. 4a) is higher than the one of

shows that the quintic term (dashed line) stabilizes the the quintic equation (Figs. 4b and c). These results attested
potential. those presented by the analytical part in Fig. 1.
th

Let us now check the MI results. Fig. 5 shows the evo-

4. Numerical results lution of the initial condition through the system with the
same parameters of Fig. 2 with k ¼ 1:0. According to the
Au

According to the above analytical results based on lin-
ear stability analysis, the stability condition of an
extended nonlinear plane wave has been determined for
the cubic–quintic NLS equation. Linear stability analysis
can determine the instability domain in the parameter
space and predict qualitatively how the amplitude of a
modulation sideband evolves at the onset of the instabil-
ity. However, such an analysis is based on the lineariza-
tion around the unperturbed carrier wave, which is valid
only when the amplitude of perturbation is small in com-
parison with that of the carrier wave. Clearly, the linear
approximation must fail at large time scales as the ampli-
analytical results, the instability is predicted in this case.
When the initial modulated wave evolves through the sys-
tem, we observe in Fig. 5 that the amplitude of the waves
grows exponentially. Fig. 5a depicts the case of the cubic
NLS equation, while Fig. 5b presents the case of the quintic
NLS equation. Contrary to the analytical results (Fig. 2c),
we obtain here that the amplitude of the cubic NLS
equation grows exponentially before the one of the quin-
tic NLS equation for both signs of Q2 (Q2 ¼ 0:0825
and Q2 ¼ 0:125). That is what we would have expected.
From the above results, one can therefore say that the
quintic term softened the exponential growth of certain
428 F.II Ndzana et al. / Optics Communications 275 (2007) 421–428
modulation side-bands of nonlinear plane waves propagat-
ing in a dispersive medium as a result of the interplay
between nonlinearity and dispersion effect.
Finally, in Figs. 6 and 7, we present the evolution of
wave at different position of the system. Modulational
instability is the prerequisite for the formation of spatial
or temporal patterns. In an optical fiber where the field
evolution is described by the NLS equation, MI of a con-
tinuous wave can be employed for the generation of pulse
trains with high repetition rate [7,18–22]. We present such
a case in Fig. 6. The initial modulated plane wave has been
broken in term of a train of small-amplitude short waves.
Fig. 6a presents the case of the cubic NLS equation while
Fig. 6b depicts the case of the quintic NLS equation. In
these figures, each element of the train has the shape of a
soliton object. These excitations have envelope functions
with shape familiar from the theory of soliton-like objects,
but in contrast to solitons they emerge as solutions of the
time-dependent classical equations of motion. This point
is well illustrated in Fig. 7, where we see that the initial
waves evolve with a pulse shape for both cubic NLS equa-
tion (Fig. 7a) and the quintic NLS equation (Fig. 7b). In all
these figures, we observe that the amplitude of waves for
the quintic NLS equation is always less than the one of
the cubic NLS equation.
rs
5. Conclusion
To summarize, we have examined the modulational
pe
instability of nonlinear wave in cubic–quintic NLS equa-
tion. For this purpose, we have derived the nonlinear dis-
persion relation from the cubic–quintic NLS equation by
using two different approaches, namely, the standard linear
stability analysis and the variational approach. It is found
that the quintic term can be used to reduce the magnitude
of waves and hence to stabilize the propagation of waves in
r's
the system. The theoretical findings have been numerically
o
th
Au
tested through direct simulations of the behavior of the sys-
tem predicted by analytical results. Excellent agreement has
been obtained between analytical predictions and numeri-
cal experiments.
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