We consider a linear model of optical transmission through a fiber with birefringent disorder in the presence of amplifier noise. Both disorder and noise are assumed to be weak, i.e., the average bit-error rate (BER) is small. The probability distribution function (PDF) of rare violent events leading to the values of BER much larger than its typical value is estimated. We show that the PDF has a long algebraiclike tail.

• Received 5 February 2003

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.68.066619