title: Soliton as strange attractor: nonlinear synchronization and chaos.
abstract: We show that dissipative solitons can have dynamics similar to that of a strange attractor in low-dimensional systems. Using a model of a passively mode-locked fiber laser as an example, we show that soliton pulsations with periods equal to several round-trips of the cavity can be chaotic, even though they are synchronized with the round-trip time. The chaotic part of this motion is quantified using a two-dimensional map and estimating the Lyapunov exponent. We found a specific route to chaotic motion that occurs through the creation, increase, and overlap of "islands" of chaos rather than through multiplication of frequencies.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Optica, C.S.I.C., Serrano 121, 28006 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Soto-Crespo
authors.forename: Nail
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Akhmediev