Abstract
Stochastically driven nonlinear processes are responsible for spontaneous pattern formation and instabilities in numerous natural and artificial systems, including well-known examples such as sand ripples, cloud formations, water waves, animal pigmentation and heart rhythms1,2,3. Technologically, a type of such self-amplification drives free-electron lasers4,5 and optical supercontinuum sources6,7 whose radiation qualities, however, suffer from the stochastic origins8,9,10,11. Through time-resolved observations, we identify intrinsic properties of these fluctuations that are hidden in ensemble measurements. We acquire single-shot spectra of modulation instability produced by laser pulses in glass fibre at megahertz real-time capture rates. The temporally confined nature of the gain physically limits the number of amplified modes, which form an antibunched arrangement as identified from a statistical analysis of the data. These dynamics provide an example of pattern competition and interaction in confined nonlinear systems.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation including CIAN ERC, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA/DSO) Physical Intelligence programme and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG-ZUK 45/1). D.R.S. thanks B. de La Brea for helpful discussions.
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Solli, D., Herink, G., Jalali, B. et al. Fluctuations and correlations in modulation instability. Nature Photon 6, 463–468 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2012.126
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2012.126
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