Higher-order effects and ultrashort solitons in left-handed metamaterials

Starting from Maxwell's equations, we use the reductive perturbation method to derive a second-order and a third-order nonlinear Schrödinger equation, describing ultrashort solitons in nonlinear left-handed metamaterials. We find necessary conditions and derive exact bright and dark soliton solutions of these equations for the electric and magnetic field envelopes.