title: Self-Organization of Light in Optical Media with Competing Nonlinearities.
abstract: We study the propagation of light beams through optical media with competing nonlocal nonlinearities. We demonstrate that the nonlocality of competing focusing and defocusing nonlinearities gives rise to self-organization and stationary states with stable hexagonal intensity patterns, akin to transverse crystals of light filaments. Signatures of this long-range ordering are shown to be observable in the propagation of light in optical waveguides and even in free space. We consider a specific form of the nonlinear response that arises in atomic vapor upon proper light coupling. Yet, the general phenomenon of self-organization is a generic consequence of competing nonlocal nonlinearities, and may, hence, also be observed in other settings.
authors.affiliation: Joint Quantum Centre (JQC) Durham-Newcastle, Department of Physics, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, United Kingdom.|Department of Mathematical Sciences, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Maucher
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, 01187 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pohl
authors.affiliation: Univ. Bordeaux-CNRS-CEA, Centre Lasers Intenses et Applications, UMR 5107, 33405 Talence, France.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Skupin
authors.affiliation: Laser Physics Centre, Research School of Physics and Engineering, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia.|Science Program, Texas A&M University at Qatar, Doha, Qatar.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Krolikowski