Dissipative Optical Solitons: An Introduction

In this chapter we provide an introduction to the topic of this book. After a brief historical note on solitary waves, a special attention is paid to solitons in optical fiber systems. The complex Ginzburg-Landau equation is presented as a main equation describing different dissipative physical systems, namely optical transmission lines and passively mode-locked fiber lasers. Several types of dissipative optical solitons are commented, as well as the formation of multi-soliton complexes. We conclude with a review of recent experimental results on pulsating optical dissipative solitons.