Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: In this work, we explore the dynamics of time-varying photonic media with an optical Kerr nonlinearity and an associated phase transition. The interplay between a periodically modulated permittivity and the nonlinearity induces a continuous transition of electromagnetic waves to a state with broken spatial and time translation symmetries. This transition gives rise to a lattice-like wave pattern, in many ways similar to a spatial crystallization in solids. Symmetry breaking triggers the emergence of soft, Goldstone-like modes, which propagate as deformations of the lattice structure, as well as massive Higgs-like modes—spatially uniform oscillations of the field amplitude. We extend the analysis of the nonequilibrium symmetry breaking to 2 + 1 -dimensional time-varying media and discuss pattern formation as well as the connection to discrete dissipative time crystals.
Source: Physical Review A
Authors: Egor I. Kiselev, Yiming Pan
Language: English
Topic: Nonlinear Photonic Systems
Subfield: Statistical and Nonlinear Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $2,675
OpenAlex ID: W4410119405