Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: ABSTRACT In optics, temporal mirrors can be realized using solitons ‐ stable refractive index barriers propagating at the speed of light that can be probed by weak waves reflecting off the barrier. This approach offers an alternative method for achieving temporal analogues of reflection.Unlike time‐varying material approaches, temporal reflection in soliton‐based propagation models has already been demonstrated experimentally. This mechanism exists across different physical systems, enabling laboratory investigations of otherwise inaccessible phenomena such as event horizon physics, rogue wave dynamics, and negative mass effects. This capability to simulate extreme physical conditions makes the approach particularly valuable for advancing efficient light‐matter interactions in optical technologies and modern photonics. While such optical temporal mirrors are experimentally feasible, existing implementations face significant technical challenges: they require the generation of femtosecond pulses at precisely tuned incommensurate frequencies. Here, we demonstrate a practical scheme that inherently generates a temporal mirror over extended propagation distances, with back‐reaction continuously modifying the conditions required to sustain the mirror. This process autonomously generates both the soliton and test wave at precisely controlled positions in time, space, and frequency. Our scheme provides access to intriguing physics phenomena using modest resources available in standard optical laboratories, leveraging well‐established optical effects.
Source: Advanced Physics Research
Language: English
Topic: Nonlinear Waves and Solitons
Subfield: Statistical and Nonlinear Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,690
OpenAlex ID: W7116734706