  Bound states, also called soliton molecules, can form as a result of the
interaction between individual solitons. This interaction is mediated through
the tails of each soliton that overlap with one another. When such soliton
tails have spatial oscillations, locking or pinning between two solitons can
occur at fixed distances related with the wavelength of these oscillations,
thus forming a bound state. In this work, we study the formation and stability
of various types of bound states in the Lugiato-Lefever equation by computing
their interaction potential and by analyzing the properties of the oscillatory
tails. Moreover, we study the effect of higher order dispersion and noise in
the pump intensity on the dynamics of bound states. In doing so, we reveal that
perturbations to the Lugiato-Lefever equation that maintain reversibility, such
as fourth order dispersion, lead to bound states that tend to separate from one
another in time when noise is added. This separation force is determined by the
shape of the envelope of the interaction potential, as well as an additional
Brownian ratchet effect. In systems with broken reversibility, such as third
order dispersion, this ratchet effect continues to push solitons within a bound
state apart. However, the force generated by the envelope of the potential is
now such that it pushes the solitons towards each other, leading to a null net
drift of the solitons.
