Rogue waves in nonlocal media

Abstract

The generation of rogue waves is investigated via a nonlocal nonlinear Schrodinger (NLS) equation. In this system, modulation instability is suppressed and is usually expected that rogue wave formation would also be limited. On the contrary, a parameter regime is identified where the instability is suppressed but nevertheless the number and amplitude of the rogue events increase, as compared to the standard NLS (which is a limit of the nonlocal system). Furthermore, the nature of these waves is investigated; while no analytical solutions are known to model these events, numerically it is shown that they differ significantly from either the rational (Peregrine) or soliton solution of the limiting NLS equation. As such, these findings may also help in rogue wave realization experimentally in these media.