This chapter is devoted to the study of dispersive effects that affect short pulses inside a graded-index fiber. An equation governing the evolution of optical pulses inside a GRIN medium is found in Section 4.1. The dispersion parameters appearing in this equation change, depending on which mode is being considered. Section 4.2 focuses on the distortion of optical pulses resulting from differential group delay and group velocity dispersion. Section 4.3 deals with the effects of linear coupling among the modes, occurring because of random variations in the core’s shape and size along a fiber’s length. A non-modal approach is developed in Section 4.4 for the propagation of short optical pulses inside a GRIN medium. The focus of Section 4.5 is on the applications where optical pulses are sent through a GRIN rod or fiber

This chapter addresses optical wave propagation in isotropic and anisotropic media. This chapter begins with general discussions on the energy flow and power exchange as an optical wave propagates through a medium. The next two sections respectively address the propagation of plane waves in isotropic and anisotropic homogeneous media. The polarization normal modes of propagation are defined for a birefringent crystal, which can be uniaxial with only one optical axis or biaxial with two optical axes. The concepts and characteristics of phase velocity, group velocity, and various types of dispersion are then discussed.