Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the self-action effects of a powerful and quasi-
monochromatic light wave, which propagates in a nonlinear isotropic medium. Among these
self-action effects, the chapter gives emphasis on the processes of self-focusing, self-
trapping, and self-phase-modulation. The experimental and theoretical material presented in
the chapter offers evidence that much progress is made in this field in the past few years.
The main physical effects have been predicted and observed experimentally, and a …