Abstract
We show that a laser beam which propagates through a cubic-quintic nonlinear optical material may reach, for a given power, a condensed state with a collisional dynamics resembling a liquid drop. We qualitatively describe the analogies between this system and the usual fluids and show them by simulating numerically total reflections of these beams with planar boundaries and localized defects. We use the analogy “liquid light” to stress the connections with the dynamics of quantum fluids, including Bose-Einstein condensates.
- Received 3 September 2001
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.65.066604
©2002 American Physical Society
