Fluctuating pulse propagation in resonant nonlinear media: self-induced transparency random phase soliton formation.

We numerically investigate partially coherent short pulse propagation in nonlinear media near optical resonance. We examine how the pulse state of coherence at the source affects the evolution of the ensemble averaged intensity, mutual coherence function, and temporal degree of coherence of the pulse ensemble. We report evidence of self-induced transparency random phase soliton formation for the relatively coherent incident pulses with sufficiently large average areas. We also show that random pulses lose their coherence on propagation in resonant media and we explain this phenomenon in qualitative terms.