Rogue waves in birefringent optical fibers

Abstract: Rogue waves in birefringent optical fibers are analyzed within the framework of the coupled nonlinear Schr\"odinger (CNLS) system. The generation of rogue waves is frequently associated with modulation instability (MI). It is commonly expected that since the CNLS equations exhibit larger growth rates they should also produce more rogue events than their scalar counterparts. This is found to occur only when both equations are focusing. When at least one component is defocusing, the CNLS equations may still exhibit larger growth rates, compared to the scalar system, but that does not necessarily result in more or larger events. The birefringence angle for which the maximum number of events occurs is also identified and the nature of the rogue wave is described for the different cases.