The semistrong limit of multipulse interaction in a thermally driven optical system

Abstract We consider the semistrong limit of pulse interaction in a thermally driven, parametrically forced, nonlinear Schrodinger (TDNLS) system modeling pulse interaction in an optical cavity. The TDNLS couples a parabolic equation to a hyperbolic system, and in the semistrong scaling we construct pulse solutions which experience both short-range, tail–tail interactions and long-range thermal coupling. We extend the renormalization group (RG) methods used to derive semistrong interaction laws in reaction–diffusion systems to the hyperbolic–parabolic setting of the TDNLS system. A key step is to capture the singularly perturbed structure of the semigroup through the control of the commutator of the resolvent and a re-scaling operator. The RG approach reduces the pulse dynamics to a closed system of ordinary differential equations for the pulse locations.