Coupled nonlinear Schroedinger field equations for electromagnetic wave propagation in nonlinear left-handed materials

For an isotropic and homogeneous nonlinear left-handed materials, for which the effective medium approximation is valid, Maxwell's equations for electric and magnetic fields lead naturally, within the slowly varying envelope approximation, to a system of coupled nonlinear Schroedinger equations. This system is equivalent to the well-known Manakov model that under certain conditions, is completely integrable and admits bright and dark soliton solutions. It is demonstrated that left- and right-handed (normal) nonlinear mediums may have compound bright and dark soliton solutions, respectively. These results are also supported by numerical calculations.