Short optical pulse polarization dynamics in a nonlinear birefringent doped fiber

Numerical solutions are obtained of the full self-consistent system of equations for the counter, rotating polarization components of the field of a short optical pulse propagating in a nonlinear birefringent fiber and in the ensemble of the energy-level degenerate doped resonance atoms implanted in the fiber material. In every cross section of the fiber, the ellipticity of the polarized wave experiences a complex evolution in time accompanied by rapid changes of the azimuthal angle due to the interplay of the dispersion and the Kerr nonlinear self-and cross-phase modulation. The reciprocal effect of the impurities on the traveling pulse causes oscillations of the pulse envelope that can completely distort the shape of the input signal, while the resonance absorption can drive the birefringence process from the nonlinear regime back to the linear one.