title: Solitons supported by spatially inhomogeneous nonlinear losses.
abstract: We uncover that, in contrast to the common belief, stable dissipative solitons exist in media with uniform gain in the presence of nonuniform cubic losses, whose local strength grows with coordinate η (in one dimension) faster than |η|. The spatially-inhomogeneous absorption also supports new types of solitons, that do not exist in uniform dissipative media. In particular, single-well absorption profiles give rise to spontaneous symmetry breaking of fundamental solitons in the presence of uniform focusing nonlinearity, while stable dipoles are supported by double-well absorption landscapes. Dipole solitons also feature symmetry breaking, but under defocusing nonlinearity.
authors.affiliation: ICFO-Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques, and Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Mediterranean Technology Park, 08860, Castelldefels (Barcelona), Spain. Olga.Borovkova@icfo.es
authors.forename: Olga V
authors.initials: OV
authors.lastname: Borovkova
authors.forename: Yaroslav V
authors.initials: YV
authors.lastname: Kartashov
authors.forename: Victor A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Vysloukh
authors.forename: Valery E
authors.initials: VE
authors.lastname: Lobanov
authors.forename: Boris A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Malomed
authors.forename: Lluis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Torner
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D008027:Light; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D017711:Nonlinear Dynamics; D012542:Scattering, Radiation