Azimuthal modulation instability, breathers and solitons in ring-core optical fibers

We numerically investigate azimuthal modulation instability in an optical fiber supporting orbital angular momentum modes only, i.e. a vortex fiber, by means of the scalar multimode unidirectional pulse propagation equation. We demonstrate that the nonlinear stage of azimuthal modulation instability taking place in such a ring-core fiber, with anomalous rotation group-velocity dispersion, can be simply described by analytical breather solutions of the corresponding nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation. Azimuthal soliton dynamics and nonlinear compression are also unveiled as well as specific spatial rotating features as a function of the topological charge involved. Our results open a new route for studying transverse nonlinear waves in optical fibers and for manipulating orbital angular momentum states.