Observation of PT-Symmetry Breaking in Complex Optical Potentials

A. Guo, G. J. Salamo, D. Duchesne, R. Morandotti, M. Volatier-Ravat, V. Aimez, G. A. Siviloglou, and D. N. Christodoulides
Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 093902 – Published 27 August 2009

Abstract

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.

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  • Received 29 April 2009

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.103.093902

©2009 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

A. Guo and G. J. Salamo

  • Department of Physics, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701, USA

D. Duchesne and R. Morandotti

  • INRS-EMT, Varennes, Québec J3X 1S2, Canada

M. Volatier-Ravat and V. Aimez

  • Centre de Recherche en Nanofabrication et en Nanocaractérisation, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec J1K 2R1, Canada

G. A. Siviloglou and D. N. Christodoulides

  • College of Optics & Photonics-CREOL, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida 32816, USA

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Issue

Vol. 103, Iss. 9 — 28 August 2009

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