{
  "abstract": "Branched flow of light arises when spatially correlated disorder folds families of rays into caustics. Here, we demonstrate a temporal analog in the retarded-time coordinate of an optical pulse in a waveguide, where branched flow becomes hyper-dispersive. Retardation during pulse propagation induces spatiotemporal correlations that break propagation reciprocity and imprint a trajectory memory. This nonreciprocity enables unidirectional temporal branched flow with no spatial counterpart. A memory model is developed combining ray-density and phase fluctuations with single-ray dynamics in a memory cell. The model reveals competition between fluctuation-induced focusing and destruction, which yields nontrivial diagrams of propagation regimes with distinct dispersion scalings. For a 532-nm pulse in a $\\mathrm{LiNbO_3}$ fiber, we predict that refractive-index disorder induced by active modulations or quantum vacuum fluctuations can produce first caustics on meter-to-kilometer scales, offering routes to experimental observation and to sensing ultra-weak fluctuations.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2610.04232",
  "author_total": 4,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Weifeng Ding"
    },
    {
      "name": "Chaokai Yang"
    },
    {
      "name": "Zhaoying Wang"
    },
    {
      "name": "Fanglin Bao"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/3br8bxm9bg55n.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2610.04232",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "3br8bxm9bg55n",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.04232",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "LicenseRef-arXiv-nonexclusive-1.0",
  "licence_label": "arXiv licence",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "physics.optics"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3102|Random lasers and scattering media"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7220727095",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2610.04232",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-03",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/3br8bxm9bg55n.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:27:01Z",
      "native_id": "2610.04232",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.04232"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:physics.optics",
      "subfield": "optics-photonics"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Temporal Branched Flow of Light",
  "title_text": "Temporal Branched Flow of Light",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:27:01Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/3br8bxm9bg55n",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}