title: Catastrophic collapse of ultrashort pulses
abstract: We investigate theoretically the self-focusing dynamics of an ultrashort laser pulse both near and above the threshold at which the pulse effectively undergoes catastrophic collapse. We find that, as a result of space-time focusing and self-steepening, an "optical shock" wave forms inside the medium that gives rise to a broad blueshifted pedestal in the transmitted pulse spectrum. Our results are in good agreement with the primary features observed in experiments and thus provide a theoretical understanding for the underlying process that gives rise to "white-light" generation.
authors.affiliation: School of Applied and Engineering Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Gaeta