Theory and Simulation of Ultrafast Intense Pulse Propagation in Extended Media

The theory of femtosecond pulse propagation in dispersive nonlinear media is reviewed with emphasis on modeling light-matter interactions in femtosecond optical filaments. Discussion of the principles underlying the pulse propagation models is followed by the description of the “standard” light-medium interaction model utilized in the ultrafast nonlinear optics, and open problems are identified across the field.