Nonlinearly induced PT transition in photonic systems

Yaakov Lumer, Yonatan Plotnik, Mikael C. Rechtsman, Mordechai Segev

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

156 Scopus citations

Abstract

We study the effect of nonlinearity on systems with periodic parity-time (PT) symmetry, and show that nonlinearity can transform the system from broken to full PT symmetry and vice versa. Furthermore, we show that even when the nonlinearity is insufficient to induce a transition from broken to full PT symmetry, still, the wave functions neither decay nor diverge, despite the fact that the system has a complex eigenvalue spectrum. Rather, the amplitudes of the wavefunctions oscillate around the transition point. Our results apply to a wide variety of systems in optics and beyond.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number263901
JournalPhysical review letters
Volume111
Issue number26
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 27 2013

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Physics and Astronomy

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