Year: 2011
Type: article
Abstract: Using a scattering matrix formalism, we derive the general scattering properties of optical structures that are symmetric under a combination of parity and time reversal (PT). We demonstrate the existence of a transition between PT-symmetric scattering eigenstates, which are norm preserving, and symmetry-broken pairs of eigenstates exhibiting net amplification and loss. The system proposed by Longhi [Phys. Rev. A 82, 031801 (2010).], which can act simultaneously as a laser and coherent perfect absorber, occurs at discrete points in the broken-symmetry phase, when a pole and zero of the S matrix coincide.
Source: Physical Review Letters
Authors: Y. D. Chong, Li Ge, A. Douglas Stone
Institution: Yale University
Language: English
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2004103591