The wave turbulence theory provides a unified nonequilibrium thermodynamic formulation of random nonlinear optical waves [1]. The talk will review different formalisms: the wave turbulence kinetic equation describing wave condensation and thermalization, as well as its breakdown, the long-range Vlasov equation in analogy with gravitation, the weak Langmuir turbulence kinetic equation and its description of spectral shock and collapse singularities. Depending on the regime and the considered formalism, extreme events manifest themselves under different forms. We will discuss in particular whether extreme events can be interpreted as the natural large fluctuations of the phase-transition to soliton condensation.

References

[1] Picozzi, Garnier, Hansson, Suret, Randoux, Millot, Christodoulides, Optical wave turbulence, Phys. Reports 542, 1 (2014).