Although π phase shifts in an input Stokes beam are known to initiate soliton formation in a Raman amplifier, the observed shot-to-shot amplitude fluctuations have gone unexplained. It has been suggested that recently observed frequency shifts caused by quantum fluctuations may be related to the observed soliton decay. We show that frqequency shifts of the magnitude observed from these quantum fluctuations lead to soliton decay, and thus, are indeed the probable cause of observed soliton decay.

• Received 27 September 1988

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.39.6078