Evolution of intensive light pulses in a nonlinear medium with the Raman effect

Abstract: In this paper, we study the evolution of intensive light pulses in nonlinear single-mode fibers. The dynamics of light in such fibers is described by the nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation with the Raman term, due to stimulated Raman self-scattering. It is shown that dispersive shock waves are formed during the evolution of sufficiently intensive pulses. In this case, the situation is much richer than for the nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation with Kerr nonlinearity only. The Whitham equations are obtained under the assumption that the Raman term can be considered as a small perturbation. These equations describe slow evolution of dispersive shock waves. It is shown that if one takes into account the Raman effect, then dispersive shock waves can asymptotically acquire a stationary profile. The analytical theory is confirmed by numerical calculations.