Linear Schrödinger equation with temporal evolution for front induced transitions

Abstract

The nonlinear Schrödinger equation based on slowly varying approximation is usually applied to describe the pulse propagation in nonlinear waveguides. However, for the case of the front induced transitions (FITs), the pump effect is well described by the dielectric constant perturbation in space and time. Thus, a linear Schrödinger equation can be used. Also, in waveguides with weak dispersion the spatial evolution of the pulse temporal profile is usually tracked. Such a formulation becomes impossible for optical systems for which the group index or higher dispersion terms diverge as is the case near the band edge of photonic crystals. For the description of FITs in such systems a linear Schrödinger equation can be used where temporal evolution of the pulse spatial profile is tracked instead of tracking the spatial evolution. This representation provides the same descriptive power and can easily deal with zero group velocities. Furthermore, the Schrödinger equation with temporal evolution can describe signal pulse reflection from both static and counter-propagating fronts, in contrast to the Schrödinger equation with spatial evolution which is bound to forward propagation. Here, we discuss the two approaches and demonstrate the applicability of the spatial evolution for the system close to the band edge where the group velocity vanishes by simulating intraband indirect photonic transitions.