Influence of self-steepening on optical-solitary-wave bistability

Abstract
It is found that inclusion of the self-steepening contribution in the generalized nonlinear Schrödinger equation allows for the possibility of truly hysteretic bistable solitary-wave behavior, characterized by the appearance of an N-shaped energy curve, for nonlinear functions f(I) that do not support bistability when self-steepening is neglected. This finding is discussed in the framework of one-dimensional optical pulse propagation.