Motion of clusters of weakly coupled two-dimensional cavity solitons

Abstract

An analysis of clusters of weakly coupled two-dimensional spatial optical solitons in a large-aperture class A laser with a saturable absorber is developed. The symmetries that control the transverse motion of the clusters are described. Numerical solutions of the governing generalized complex Ginzburg-Landau equation demonstrate the existence of four types of clusters of weakly coupled cavity solitons that correspond to symmetries of transverse intensity distributions and energy flows: (1) stationary (with two mirror symmetry axes), (2) rotating about a stationary center of mass (invariant under rotation), (3) translating without rotation (with a single mirror symmetry axis), and (4) asymmetric ones rotating about a center of mass that moves around a circle (with equal periods of rotation and circular motion).