Abstract
Mutually coupled modes of a pair of active LRC circuits, one with amplification and another with an equivalent amount of attenuation, provide an experimental realization of a wide class of systems where gain and loss mechanisms break the Hermiticity while preserving parity-time symmetry. For a value of the gain and loss strength parameter the eigenfrequencies undergo a spontaneous phase transition from real to complex values, while the normal modes coalesce, acquiring a definite chirality. The consequences of the phase transition in the spatiotemporal energy evolution are also presented.
- Received 28 June 2011
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.84.040101
©2011 American Physical Society
Synopsis
Circuit Analysis
Published 13 October 2011
An electronic circuit provides a simple analog for a special class of quantum mechanical Hamiltonians.
See more in Physics