Conservative multi-exponential scheme for solving the direct Zakharov-Shabat scattering problem.

The direct Zakharov-Shabat scattering problem has recently gained significant attention in various applications of fiber optics. The development of accurate and fast algorithms with low computational complexity to solve the Zakharov-Shabat problem (ZSP) remains an urgent problem in optics. In this Letter, a fourth-order multi-exponential scheme is proposed for the Zakharov-Shabat system. The construction of the scheme is based on a fourth-order three-exponential scheme and Suzuki factorization. This allows one to apply the fast algorithms with low complexity to calculate the ZSP for a large number of spectral parameters. The scheme conserves the quadratic invariant for real spectral parameters, which is important for various telecommunication problems related to information coding.