Introduction#
solprop simulates how an ultrashort light pulse changes as it propagates through a waveguide or a bulk medium. Dispersion, diffraction, nonlinear polarisation and ionisation can reshape its spectrum, duration and transverse field. These chapters take you from an installation to interpreting those changes in four complete calculations.
Begin with installation, the capability overview and choosing a spatial description. The first propagation lesson introduces the workflow used throughout the manual. Later lessons explain the additional choices needed for a different equation and for spatially resolved beams.
Lesson |
What you will learn |
|---|---|
Set up a multimode capillary, read spectral and temporal maps, select a band, and interpret energies and statistics. |
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Relate pulse parameters to soliton order, follow compression and recurrence, and distinguish energy conservation from field accuracy. |
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Connect self-focusing and plasma to fluence, intensity and electron density; recognise the limits of radial symmetry. |
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Launch custom Cartesian arrays, interpret interference, and check beam motion, superposition and spatial resolution. |
Each lesson executes as a complete script and includes downloadable Python and notebook versions. Read the text between cells: it explains why the parameters were chosen and which conclusions need further convergence checks. Runtime and backend are recorded with the output. Full propagation is intentional; the figures should show the physical development the lesson describes.
The user guide supplies the practical details, equations and numerical methods behind the lessons. To understand them from the beginning, read the primer: one long account of the physics and numerics, from Maxwell’s equations to a converged result. The examples extend them to other processes and fuller comparisons. Use the previous/next links to read in sequence, or the chapter links to return to a particular task.