Instabilidade modulacional e auto-armadilhamento em redes não lineares de baixa dimensionalidade

Abstract

The state of wave dynamics in nonlinear media is a topic that is directly related to several phenomena in optics, Bose Einstein condensates and condensed matter physics. The response of a nonlinear medium usually acts together with dispersive contributions to promote the formation of stable localized waves. However, distinct physical mechanisms come into play depending on the profile of the initial wave. Self-trapping is the main mechanism acting on initially localized waves, while modulational instability triggers the localization of initially broad waves. In the present study, we show that the combined action of these two physical mechanisms acting on wave packets leads to quite distinct wave dynamics in one and two dimensions.