“Extraordinary” modulation instability in optics and hydrodynamics
Guillaume Vanderhaegen, Corentin Naveau, Pascal Szriftgiser, Alexandre Kudlinski, Matteo Conforti, Arnaud Mussot, Miguel Onorato, S. Trillo, Amin Chabchoub, Nail Akhmediev
Abstract
Significance Modulation instability (MI) is a ubiquitous phenomenon in physics, corresponding to the growth of a weakly modulated continuous wave in a nonlinear medium and leading to the generation of a large-amplitude periodic wave train. In space, it transforms weakly modulated plane waves into spatially periodic patterns. In frequency domain, the MI is the result of energy transfer from a strong single spectral component into sidebands. While linear stability analysis predicts a limited band of unstable frequencies of modulation, recent developments based on a nonlinear theory revealed the existence of MI beyond this limited frequency range. These experimental studies are the first experimental demonstrations of the “extraordinary” MI phenomenon. Achieved both in optics and hydrodynamics, they clearly further highlight the interdisciplinary of this process.