Nonlinear random optical waves: Integrable turbulence, rogue waves and intermittency

Highlights: • Nonlinear propagation of random waves is studied in integrable systems. • Statistical properties are examined in focusing and defocusing propagation regimes. • Heavy and low-tailed deviations from Gaussian statistics are observed. • Intermittency phenomenon is found in integrable turbulence. We examine the general question of statistical changes experienced by ensembles of nonlinear random waves propagating in systems ruled by integrable equations. In our study that enters within the framework of integrable turbulence, we specifically focus on optical fiber systems accurately described by the integrable one-dimensional nonlinear Schrödinger equation. We consider random complex fields having a Gaussian statistics and an infinite extension at initial stage. We use numerical simulations with periodic boundary conditions and optical fiber experiments to investigate spectral and statistical changes experienced by nonlinear waves in focusing and in defocusing propagation regimes. As a result of nonlinear propagation, the power spectrum of the random wave broadens and takes exponential wings both in focusing and in defocusing regimes. Heavy-tailed deviations from Gaussian statistics are observed in focusing regime while low-tailed deviations from Gaussian statistics are observed in defocusing regime. After some transient evolution, the wave system is found to exhibit a statistically stationary state in which neither the probability density function of the wave field nor the spectrum changes with the evolution variable. Separating fluctuations of small scale from fluctuations of large scale both in focusing and defocusing regimes, we reveal the phenomenon of intermittency; i.e., small scales are characterized by large heavy-tailed deviations from Gaussian statistics, while the large ones are almost Gaussian.