John Dudley - Ultrafast Measurements and Extreme Events in Nonlinear Fibre Optics
Virtual Lecture
Lecture available on YouTube
Abstract:
The year 2021 represents 60 years since the birth of nonlinear optics, and with continued developments in sources, materials, and waveguides, the field is more active than ever. An area of much recent interest has focused on studying extreme nonlinear pulse propagation in optical fibre and fibre lasers, and experiments have revealed a rich landscape of complex interactions due to the interplay of nonlinearity, dispersion and dissipation. In the past, however, these dynamics have not been able to be measured completely because of experimental limitations, but new techniques have now opened up the possibility to analyze a range of novel nonlinear processes, including the generation of spontaneous “rogue wave” events with analogies to the giant and destructive waves on the surface of the ocean. After giving a general introduction to the field and an overview of the measurement techniques used, we will discuss a range of recent results in both fibre propagation and fibre laser systems. We will also describe how tools from artificial intelligence such as neural networks are providing exciting new methodologies to study and understand such complex dynamics.
Biography:
John Dudley is Distinguished Professor of Physics at the Université de Franche-Comté and the CNRS Research Institute FEMTO-ST in Besancon, France. He received his PhD in New Zealand in 1992, and worked in Scotland and New Zealand before his appointment as Professor in France in 2000. His research spans a period of more than 25 years in which he has contributed to optical source development, ultrafast and nonlinear fibre optics, and the interdisciplinary physics of nonlinear waves. He served as the President of the European Physical Society from 2013-2015 and initiated and chaired the UN International Year of Light & Light-based Technologies 2015 and the follow-up annual UNESCO International Day of Light. He was an ERC Advanced Grant laureate from 2011-2016, and has received recognition for his research with the Médaille d'Argent of the national French research agency CNRS, the Harold E. Edgerton Award for High-Speed Optics of SPIE, and the R.W. Wood Prize of OSA. He has also received awards for leadership and outreach from APS, IOP, SPIE, and OSA. He is a Fellow of IEEE, IOP, SPIE and OSA, and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand Te Aparangi.