Optical Carrier-Wave Subcycle Structures Associated with Supercritical Collapse of Long-Wavelength Intense Pulses Propagating in Weakly Anomalously Dispersive Media

Abstract

We predict the emergence of attosecond-duration structures on an optical carrier wave when intense, long-wavelength pulses propagate through bulk media with weak anomalous dispersion. Under certain conditions, these structures can undergo a new type of carrier-resolved supercritical collapse, forming infinite spatiotemporal gradients in the field. The mathematical conditions for the onset of this singularity are briefly overviewed, and we demonstrate with a full 3D + time (3 + 1) simulation that such structures persist under realistic conditions for a 10 micron laser pulse propagating in air.