Submitted manuscript, 2.15 MB, PDF document
Accepted author manuscript, 2.16 MB, PDF document
Final published version, 4.4 MB, PDF document
Available under license: CC BY: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Final published version
Licence: CC BY: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Topological dynamics and excitations in lasers and condensates with saturable gain or loss
AU - Malzard, Simon
AU - Cancellieri, Emiliano
AU - Schomerus, Henning Ulrich
N1 - Published by The Optical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.
PY - 2018/8/17
Y1 - 2018/8/17
N2 - We classify symmetry-protected and symmetry-breaking dynamical solutions for nonlinear saturable bosonic systems that display a non-hermitian charge-conjugation symmetry, as realized in a series of recent groundbreaking experiments with lasers and exciton polaritons. In particular, we show that these systems support stable symmetry-protected modes that mirror the concept of zero-modes in topological quantum systems, as well as symmetry-protected power-oscillations with no counterpart in the linear case. In analogy to topological phases in linear systems, the number and nature of symmetry-protected solutions can change. The spectral degeneracies signalling phase transitions in linear counterparts extend to bifurcations in the nonlinear context. As bifurcations relate to qualitative changes in the linear stability against changes of the initial conditions, the symmetry-protected solutions and phase transitions can also be characterized by topological excitations, which set them apart from symmetry-breaking solutions. The stipulated symmetry appears naturally when one introduces nonlinear gain or loss into spectrally symmetric bosonic systems, as we illustrate for one-dimensional topological laser arrays with saturable gain and two-dimensional flat-band polariton condensates with density-dependent loss.
AB - We classify symmetry-protected and symmetry-breaking dynamical solutions for nonlinear saturable bosonic systems that display a non-hermitian charge-conjugation symmetry, as realized in a series of recent groundbreaking experiments with lasers and exciton polaritons. In particular, we show that these systems support stable symmetry-protected modes that mirror the concept of zero-modes in topological quantum systems, as well as symmetry-protected power-oscillations with no counterpart in the linear case. In analogy to topological phases in linear systems, the number and nature of symmetry-protected solutions can change. The spectral degeneracies signalling phase transitions in linear counterparts extend to bifurcations in the nonlinear context. As bifurcations relate to qualitative changes in the linear stability against changes of the initial conditions, the symmetry-protected solutions and phase transitions can also be characterized by topological excitations, which set them apart from symmetry-breaking solutions. The stipulated symmetry appears naturally when one introduces nonlinear gain or loss into spectrally symmetric bosonic systems, as we illustrate for one-dimensional topological laser arrays with saturable gain and two-dimensional flat-band polariton condensates with density-dependent loss.
U2 - 10.1364/OE.26.022506
DO - 10.1364/OE.26.022506
M3 - Journal article
VL - 26
SP - 22506
EP - 22518
JO - Optics Express
JF - Optics Express
SN - 1094-4087
IS - 17
ER -