Optical rogue waves: Physics and impact

We review our recent work in the field of optical rogue wave physics and applications. Beginning from a brief survey of the well-known instabilities in optical fiber supercontinuum generation, we trace the links to recent developments in studying the emergence of high contrast localized breather structures in both spontaneous and induced nonlinear instabilities. We also discuss the precise nature of optical rogue wave statistics and examine the dynamics leading to the formation of extreme events in the context of noise-driven supercontinuum generation.