FILAMENTATION INSTABILITY OF LASER BEAMS IN NONLOCAL NONLINEAR MEDIA

The filamentation instability of laser beams propagating in nonlocal nonlinear media is investigated. It is shown that the filamentation instability can occur in weakly nonlocal self-focusing media for any degree of nonlocality, and in defocusing media for the input light intensity exceeding a threshold related to the degree of nonlocality. A linear stability analysis is used to predict the initial growth rate of the instability. It is found that the nonlocality tends to suppress filamentation instability in self-focusing media and to stimulate filamentation instability in self-defocusing media. Numerical simulations confirm the results of the linear stability analysis and disclose a recurrence phenomenon in nonlocal self-focusing media analogous to the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam problem.