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 phase transition leads to a loss induced optical transparency in specially designed pseudo-Hermitian guiding potentials.
Department of Physics, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701, USA.
A
A
Guo
G J
GJ
Salamo
D
D
Duchesne
R
R
Morandotti
M
M
Volatier-Ravat
V
V
Aimez
G A
GA
Siviloglou
D N
DN
Christodoulides