On the effects of sech-like potentials on Manakov solitons

We derive the perturbed complex Toda chain (PCTC) as a model describing the adiabatic interactions of N Manakov solitons with sech-like external potentials. We demonstrate that such potentials can cause transitions between the different asymptotic regimes of the solitons. The predictions of PCTC and the Manakov model are compared numerically and shown to match very well.