Singularity analysis and integrability for a HNLS equation governing pulse propagation in a generic fiber optics

Taking into account many developments in fiber optics communications, we propose a higher nonlinear Schrödinger equation (HNLS) with variable coefficients, more general than that in [R. Essiambre, G.P. Agrawal, Opt. Commun. 131 (1996) 274], which governs the propagation of ultrashort pulses in a fiber optics with generic variable dispersion. The study of this equation is performed using the Painlevé test and the zero-curvature method. Also, we prove the equivalence between this equation and its anomalous integrable counterpart (the so-called Sasa–Satsuma equation). Finally, in view of its physical relevance, we present a soliton solution which represents the propagation of ultrashort pulses in a dispersion decreasing fiber.