Observation of attraction of dark solitons

This study demonstrates experimentally that dark solitons can exhibit attractive forces when propagating in nonlinear media with nonlocal response. The interaction of dark solitons in thermal medium is studied by solving numerically ensuing model equation. This work also shows experimental results on the separation between the dark solitons during their propagation, obtained in experiments with paraffin oil doped with iodine as a nonlinear medium.