Wave turbulence, thermalization and multimode locking in optical fibers

We present a comprehensive overview of recent advances in theory and experiments on complex light propagation phenomena in nonlinear multimode fibers. On the basis of the wave turbulence theory, we derive kinetic equations describing the out-of-equilibrium process of optical thermalization toward the Rayleigh–Jeans (RJ) equilibrium distribution. Our theory is applied to explain the effect of beam self-cleaning (BSC) in graded-index (GRIN) fibers, whereby a speckled beam transforms into a bell-shaped beam at the fiber output as the input peak power grows larger. Although the output beam is typically dominated by the fundamental mode of the fiber, higher-order modes (HOMs) cannot be fully depleted, as described by the turbulence cascades associated to the conserved quantities. We theoretically explore the role of random refractive index fluctuations along the fiber core, and show how these imperfections may turn out to assist the observation of BSC in a practical experimental setting. This conclusion is supported by the derivation of wave turbulence kinetic equations that account for the presence of a time-dependent disorder (random mode coupling). The kinetic theory reveals that a weak disorder accelerates the rate of RJ thermalization and beam cleaning condensation. On the other hand, although strong disorder is expected to suppress wave condensation, the kinetic equation reveals that an out-of-equilibrium process of condensation and RJ thermalization can occur in a regime where disorder predominates over nonlinearity. In general, the kinetic equations are validated by numerical simulations of the generalized nonlinear Schrodinger equation. We outline a series of recent experiments, which permit to confirm the statistical mechanics approach for describing beam propagation and thermalization. For example, we highlight the demonstration of entropy growth, and point out that there are inherent limits to peak-power scaling in multimode fiber lasers. We conclude by pointing out the experimental observation that BSC is accompanied by an effect of modal phase-locking. From the one hand this explains the observed preservation of the spatial coherence of the beam, but also it points to the need of extending current descriptions in future research.