Transverse Modulational Instability of Counter-propagating Beams in a Kerr Medium Divided into Thin Slices

Abstract

The Maxwell equations for counter-propagating beams in a Kerr medium can be approximated by ‘thin-sample encoding’ in which a thickness L of a nonlinear medium is replaced by a set of n thin slices separated by regions of empty space: within the slices only a nonlinear phase shift takes place, while between them there is only diffraction.