Pulse-by-pulse method to characterize partially coherent pulse propagation in instantaneous nonlinear media.

We propose a numerical method for analyzing extensively the evolution of the coherence functions of nonstationary optical pulses in dispersive, instantaneous nonlinear Kerr media. Our approach deals with the individual propagation of samples from a properly selected ensemble that reproduces the coherence properties of the input pulsed light. In contrast to the usual strategy assuming Gaussian statistics, our numerical algorithm allows us to model the propagation of arbitrary partially coherent pulses in media with strong and instantaneous nonlinearities.