Abstract

Ultrafast transient signals appear in numerous contexts in optics and electronics. A particularly interesting variety of ultrafast waveforms are those that represent extreme outliers. Specifically, it is known that certain complex systems produce output sets with unusual statistics known as extreme value or heavy-tail distributions; such systems have the potential to beget extreme, rare events outside the realm of Gaussian statistics. As an example, recent experiments have identified rare, broadband optical pulses known as optical rogue waves, which can arise during supercontinuum generation [1].

© 2009 IEEE