Observation of PT-symmetry breaking in complex optical potentials

In 1998, Bender and Boettcher found that a wide class of Hamiltonians, even though non-Hermitian, can still exhibit entirely real spectra provided that they obey parity-time requirements or PT symmetry. Here we demonstrate experimentally passive PT-symmetry breaking within the realm of optics. This...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2009-08, Vol.103 (9), p.093902-093902
Main Authors: Guo, A, Salamo, G J, Duchesne, D, Morandotti, R, Volatier-Ravat, M, Aimez, V, Siviloglou, G A, Christodoulides, D N
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS
HAMILTONIANS
MATHEMATICAL OPERATORS
OPTICS
PARITY
PARTICLE PROPERTIES
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
QUANTUM OPERATORS
SYMMETRY BREAKING
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Summary:In 1998, Bender and Boettcher found that a wide class of Hamiltonians, even though non-Hermitian, can still exhibit entirely real spectra provided that they obey parity-time requirements or PT symmetry. Here we demonstrate experimentally passive PT-symmetry breaking within the realm of optics. This phase transition leads to a loss induced optical transparency in specially designed pseudo-Hermitian guiding potentials.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.103.093902