Thermalization-induced self-polarization of temporally incoherent light: A nonequilibrium wave turbulence kinetic approach
Abstract
Conservative nonlinear waves generally undergo an irreversible process of thermalization toward the Rayleigh--Jeans (RJ) equilibrium state. Light thermalization has recently been experimentally investigated in the two-dimensional transverse spatial dynamics of multimode waveguides. Here, we consider the one-dimensional temporal dynamics of incoherent light propagating in a weakly birefringent single-mode fiber. We show that light thermalization is responsible for a self-polarization of the incoherent wave during its propagation. Within the framework of wave turbulence theory, we show that this phenomenon originates from a nonequilibrium process of adiabatic cooling: polarization fluctuations are continuously transferred toward the high-frequency tails of a local RJ equilibrium state, whose effective temperature decreases during propagation, thereby increasing the degree of light polarization. Moreover, in the absence of a high-frequency cut-off that would regularize the ultraviolet catastrophe in the temporal domain, the optical wave exhibits an ever-increasing degree of polarization, ultimately approaching unity. These results show that it is thermodynamically advantageous for the optical field to evolve toward a polarized state, which provides new insight into spontaneous self-organization phenomena in conservative Hamiltonian systems operating far from thermodynamic equilibrium.
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BibTeX
@misc{zanaglia2026thermalizationinduced,
title = {{Thermalization-induced self-polarization of temporally incoherent light: A nonequilibrium wave turbulence kinetic approach}},
author = {L. Zanaglia and J. Garnier and M. Ferraro and T. Torres and C. Michel and V. Doya and G. Millot and S. Wabnitz and I. Carusotto and Antonio Picozzi},
howpublished = {HAL},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.23061},
eprint = {2610.23061},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05806235v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Thermalization-induced self-polarization of temporally incoherent light: A nonequilibrium wave turbulence kinetic approach
AU - L. Zanaglia
AU - J. Garnier
AU - M. Ferraro
AU - T. Torres
AU - C. Michel
AU - V. Doya
AU - G. Millot
AU - S. Wabnitz
AU - I. Carusotto
AU - Antonio Picozzi
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/16
PB - HAL
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.23061
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05806235v1
AB - Conservative nonlinear waves generally undergo an irreversible process of thermalization toward the Rayleigh--Jeans (RJ) equilibrium state. Light thermalization has recently been experimentally investigated in the two-dimensional transverse spatial dynamics of multimode waveguides. Here, we consider the one-dimensional temporal dynamics of incoherent light propagating in a weakly birefringent single-mode fiber. We show that light thermalization is responsible for a self-polarization of the incoherent wave during its propagation. Within the framework of wave turbulence theory, we show that this phenomenon originates from a nonequilibrium process of adiabatic cooling: polarization fluctuations are continuously transferred toward the high-frequency tails of a local RJ equilibrium state, whose effective temperature decreases during propagation, thereby increasing the degree of light polarization. Moreover, in the absence of a high-frequency cut-off that would regularize the ultraviolet catastrophe in the temporal domain, the optical wave exhibits an ever-increasing degree of polarization, ultimately approaching unity. These results show that it is thermodynamically advantageous for the optical field to evolve toward a polarized state, which provides new insight into spontaneous self-organization phenomena in conservative Hamiltonian systems operating far from thermodynamic equilibrium.
ER -