The Nonlinear Schrödinger Equation: Singular Solutions and Optical Collapse

This book is an interdisciplinary introduction to optical collapse of laser beams, which is modelled by singular (blow-up) solutions of the nonlinear Schrödinger equation. With great care and detail, it develops the subject including the mathematical and physical background and the history of the subject. It combines rigorous analysis, asymptotic analysis, informal arguments, numerical simulations, physical modelling, and physical experiments. It repeatedly emphasizes the relations between ...