Temporal optical soliton molecules were recently demonstrated; they potentially allow a further increase of data rates in optical telecommunication. We present a theoretical study aimed at an explanation of the mechanism responsible for the binding force. To this end we use a perturbation treatment in several variants. We find that the well-known soliton interaction as mediated by the optical Kerr effect, when suitably modified for chirped pulses, captures essential features like the existence of a stable equilibrium separation and small-scale oscillations around this point. Predictions of these models are compared to numerical simulations.

Temporal optical soliton molecules were recently demonstrated; they potentially allow further increase of data rates in optical telecommunication. Their binding mechanism relies on the internal phases, but these have not been experimentally accessible so far. Conventional frequency-resolved optical gating techniques are not suited for measurement of their phase profile: Their algorithms fail to converge due to zeros both in their temporal and their spectral profile. We show that the VAMPIRE ͑very advanced method of phase and intensity retrieval of E-fields͒ method performs reliably. With VAMPIRE the phase profile of soliton molecules has been measured, and further insight into the mechanism is obtained.

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We present an investigation of the interaction of solitons in dispersion-managed fibers beyond the regime of formation of stable pairs (soliton molecules). There is a nonlinear resonance between a slow (compared to the dispersion map period) oscillation of the pulse shape and the typical distance of bouncing of the pulses off each other. Parameter ranges for either repetitive bouncing or a final split of the pair are shown to be organized in a self-similar pattern. Predictions of a theoretical model agree well with numerical simulations.

In dispersion-managed fibers, soliton-like solutions with periodically recurring shapes exist. These so called dispersion-managed solitons are relevant for fiber-optic telecommunication. In this article we address their behavior when there is deviation from the stationary solution, which is accompanied by the excitation of a long-lived periodic oscillation. We give a possible interpretation by applying soliton radiation beat analysis, a method capable of analyzing the soliton content.