Non Linear Diffraction

Nicolas Pavloff
nicolas.pavloff@u-psud.fr
LPTMS, CNRS, Univ. Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, 91405 Orsay, France
In a nonlinear medium, the phase and amplitude of a coherent beam are affected by nonlinearity. This modifies the laws of geometrical optics and may also lead to a gradient catastrophe resulting in complex optical patterns. I will discuss two such configurations resulting in the formation of a dispersive shock in a local nonlinear medium and of an Airy beam in a highly nonlocal one.