Since the publication of the first edition of this book in 1989, the field of nonlinear fiber optics has virtually exploded. A major factor behind such a tremendous growth was the advent of fiber amplifiers, made by doping silica or fluoride fibers with rare-earth ions such as erbium and neodymium. Such amplifiers revolutionized the design of fiber-optic communication systems, including those making use of optical solitons whose very existence stems from the presence of nonlinear effects in optical fibers. Optical amplifiers permit propagation of lightwave signals over thousands of kilometers as they can compensate for all losses encountered by the signal in the optical domain. At the same time, fiber amplifiers enable the use of massive wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) and have led to the development of lightwave systems with capacities exceeding 1 Tb/s. Nonlinear fiber optics plays an increasingly important role in the design of such high-capacity lightwave systems. In fact, an understanding of various nonlinear effects occurring inside optical fibers is almost a prerequisite for a lightwave-system designer. .

The third edition is intended to bring the book up-to-date so that it remains a unique source of comprehensive coverage on the subject of nonlinear fiber optics. An attempt was made to include recent research results on all topics relevant to the field of nonlinear fiber optics. Such an ambitious objective increased the size of the book to the extent that it was necessary to split it into two separate books. This book will continue to deal with the fundamental aspects of nonlinear fiber optics. A second book Applications of Nonlinear Fiber Optics is devoted to its applications; it is referred to as Part B in this text. ...