Under investigation in this paper are the coupled nonlinear Schrödinger (CNLS) equations, which can be used to govern the optical-soliton propagation and interaction in such optical media as the multimode fibers, fiber arrays, and birefringent fibers. By taking the 3-CNLS equations as an example for the $N$-CNLS ones ($N⩾3$), we derive the analytic mixed-type two- and three-soliton solutions in more general forms than those obtained in the previous studies with the Hirota method and symbolic computation. With the choice of parameters for those soliton solutions, soliton interactions and complexes are investigated through the asymptotic and graphic analysis. Soliton interactions and complexes with the bound dark solitons in a mode or two modes are observed, including that (i) the two bright solitons display the breatherlike structures while the two dark ones stay parallel, (ii) the two bright and dark solitons all stay parallel, and (iii) the states of the bound solitons change from the breatherlike structures to the parallel one even with the distance between those solitons smaller than that before the interaction with the regular one soliton. Asymptotic analysis is also used to investigate the elastic and inelastic interactions between the bound solitons and the regular one soliton. Furthermore, some discussions are extended to the $N$-CNLS equations ($N>3$). Our results might be helpful in such applications as the soliton switch, optical computing, and soliton amplification in the nonlinear optics.

• Received 16 November 2011

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.85.036605