We introduce a 2D network built of PT-symmetric dimers with on-site cubic nonlinearity, the gain and loss elements of the dimers being linked by parallel square-shaped lattices. The system may be realized as a set of PT-symmetric dual-core waveguides embedded into a photonic crystal. The system supports PT-symmetric and antisymmetric fundamental solitons (FSs) and on-site-centered solitary vortices (OnVs). Stability of these discrete solitons is the central topic of the consideration. Their stability regions in the underlying parameter space are identified through the computation of stability eigenvalues, and verified by direct simulations. Symmetric FSs represent the system’s ground state, being stable at lowest values of the power, while anti-symmetric FSs and OnVs are stable at higher powers. Symmetric OnVs, which are also stable at lower powers, are remarkably robust modes: on the contrary to other PT-symmetric states, unstable OnVs do not blow up, but spontaneously rebuild themselves into stable FSs.

http://arxiv.org/abs/1411.3943
Optics (physics.optics); Pattern Formation and Solitons (nlin.PS)

The concept of the PT-symmetry, originating from the quantum field theory, has been intensively investigated in optics, stimulated by the similarity between the Schr\”odinger equation and the paraxial wave equation that governs the propagation of light in a guiding structure. We go beyond the bounds of the paraxial approximation and demonstrate, using the solution of the Maxwell’s equations for light beams propagating in deeply subwavelength waveguides and periodic lattices with “balanced” gain and loss, that the PT symmetry may stay unbroken in this setting. Moreover, the PT-symmetry in subwavelength optical structures may be restored after being initially broken upon the increase of gain and loss. Critical gain/loss levels, at which the breakup and subsequent restoration of the PT symmetry occur, strongly depend on the scale of the structure.

http://arxiv.org/abs/1408.2630
Optics (physics.optics); Pattern Formation and Solitons (nlin.PS)

We overview recent theoretical studies of the dynamics of one- and two-dimensional spatial dissipative solitons in models based on the complex Ginzburg-Landau equations with the cubic-quintic combination of loss and gain terms, which include imaginary, real, or complex spatially periodic potentials. The imaginary potential represents periodic modulation of the local loss and gain. It is shown that the effective gradient force, induced by the inhomogeneous loss distribution, gives rise to three generic propagation scenarios for one-dimensional (1D) dissipative solitons: transverse drift, persistent swing motion, and damped oscillations. When the lattice-average loss/gain value is zero, and the real potential has spatial parity opposite to that of the imaginary component, the respective complex potential is a realization of the parity-time symmetry. Under the action of lattice potentials of the latter type, 1D solitons feature unique motion regimes in the form of transverse drift and persistent swing. In the 2D geometry, three types of axisymmetric radial lattices are considered, viz., ones based solely on the refractive-index modulation, or solely on the linear-loss modulation, or on a combination of both. The rotary motion of solitons in such axisymmetric potentials can be effectively controlled by varying the strength of the initial tangential kick.

http://arxiv.org/abs/1403.5436
Optics (physics.optics)

We demonstrate that in-bulk vortex localized modes, and their surface half-vortex (“horseshoe”) counterparts (which were not reported before in truncated settings) self-trap in two-dimensional (2D) nonlinear optical systems with PT-symmetric photonic lattices (PLs). The respective stability regions are identified in the underlying parameter space. The in-bulk states are related to truncated nonlinear Bloch waves in gaps of the PL-induced spectrum. The basic vortex and horseshoe modes are built, severally, of four and three beams with appropriate phase shifts between them. Their stable complex counterparts, built of up to 12 beams, are reported too.

http://arxiv.org/abs/1403.4745
Optics (physics.optics); Pattern Formation and Solitons (nlin.PS)

The subject of the work are pairs of linearly coupled PT-symmetric dimers. Two different settings are introduced, namely, straight-coupled dimers, where each gain site is linearly coupled to one gain and one loss site, and cross-coupled dimers, with each gain site coupled to two lossy ones. The latter pair with equal coupling coefficients represents a “PT-hypersymmetric” quadrimer. We find symmetric and antisymmetric solutions in these systems, chiefly in an analytical form, and explore the existence, stability and dynamical behavior of such solutions by means of numerical methods. We thus identify bifurcations occurring in the systems, including spontaneous symmetry breaking and saddle-center bifurcations. Simulations demonstrate that evolution of unstable branches typically leads to blowup. However, in some cases unstable modes rearrange into stable ones.

http://arxiv.org/abs/1312.3376
Pattern Formation and Solitons (nlin.PS); Optics (physics.optics)

We introduce one- and two-dimensional (1D and 2D) models of parity-time PT-symmetric couplers with the mutually balanced linear gain and loss applied to the two cores, and cubic-quintic (CQ) nonlinearity acting in each one. The 2D and 1D models may be realized in dual-core optical waveguides, in the spatiotemporal and spatial domains, respectively. Stationary solutions for PT-symmetric solitons in these systems reduce to their counterparts in the usual coupler. The most essential problem is the stability of the solitons, which become unstable against symmetry breaking with the increase of the energy (norm), and retrieve the stability at still larger energies. The boundary value of the intercore-coupling constant, above which the solitons are completely stable, is found by means of an analytical approximation, based on the CW (zero-dimensional) counterpart of the system. The approximation demonstrates good agreement with numerical findings for the 1D and 2D solitons. Numerical results for the stability limits of the 2D solitons are obtained by means of the computation of eigenvalues for small perturbations, and verified in direct simulations. Although large parts of the solitons families are unstable, the instability is quite weak. Collisions between 2D solitons in the PT-symmetric coupler are studied by means of simulations. Outcomes of the collisions are inelastic but not destructive, as they do not break the PT symmetry.

http://arxiv.org/abs/1311.3677
Pattern Formation and Solitons (nlin.PS); Optics (physics.optics)

We introduce the simplest one-dimensional nonlinear model with the parity-time (PT) symmetry, which makes it possible to find exact analytical solutions for localized modes (“solitons”). The PT-symmetric element is represented by a point-like (delta-functional) gain-loss dipole \(\delta^\prime(x)\), combined with the usual attractive potential \(\delta\)(x). The nonlinearity is represented by self-focusing (SF) or self-defocusing (SDF) Kerr terms, both spatially uniform and localized ones. The system can be implemented in planar optical waveguides. For the sake of comparison, also introduced is a model with separated \(\delta\)-functional gain and loss, embedded into the linear medium and combined with the \(\delta\)-localized Kerr nonlinearity and attractive potential. Full analytical solutions for pinned modes are found in both models. The exact solutions are compared with numerical counterparts, which are obtained in the gain-loss-dipole model with the \(\delta^\prime\)- and \(\delta\)- functions replaced by their Lorentzian regularization. With the increase of the dipole’s strength, \(\gamma\), the single-peak shape of the numerically found mode, supported by the uniform SF nonlinearity, transforms into a double-peak one. This transition coincides with the onset of the escape instability of the pinned soliton. In the case of the SDF uniform nonlinearity, the pinned modes are stable, keeping the single-peak shape.

http://arxiv.org/abs/1308.0426
Pattern Formation and Solitons (nlin.PS)

We considered the modulational instability of continuous-wave backgrounds, and the related generation and evolution of deterministic rogue waves in the recently introduced parity-time (PT)-symmetric system of linearly-coupled nonlinear Schr\”odinger equations, which describes a Kerr-nonlinear optical coupler with mutually balanced gain and loss in its cores. Besides the linear coupling, the overlapping cores are coupled through cross-phase-modulation term too. While the rogue waves, built according to the pattern of the Peregrine soliton, are (quite naturally) unstable, we demonstrate that the focusing cross-phase-modulation interaction results in their partial stabilization. For PT-symmetric and antisymmetric bright solitons, the stability region is found too, in an exact analytical form, and verified by means of direct simulations.

http://arxiv.org/abs/1304.7369
Optics (physics.optics); Pattern Formation and Solitons (nlin.PS)

We study effects of the spontaneous symmetry-breaking (SSB) in solitons built of the dipolar Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), trapped in a dual-core system with the dipole-dipole interactions (DDIs) and hopping between the cores. Two realizations of such a matter-wave coupler are introduced, weakly- and strongly-coupled. The former one in based on two parallel pipe-shaped traps, while the latter one is represented by a single pipe sliced by an external field into parallel layers. The dipoles are oriented along axes of the pipes. In these systems, the dual-core solitons feature the SSB of the supercritical type and subcritical types, respectively. Stability regions are identified for symmetric and asymmetric solitons, and, in addition, for non-bifurcating antisymmetric ones, as well as for symmetric flat states, which may also be stable in the strongly-coupled system, due to competition between the attractive and repulsive intra- and inter-core DDIs. Effects of the contact interactions are considered too. Collisions between moving asymmetric solitons in the weakly-symmetric system feature elastic rebound, merger into a single breather, and passage accompanied by excitation of intrinsic vibrations of the solitons, for small, intermediate, and large collision velocities, respectively. A PT-symmetric version of the weakly-coupled system is briefly considered too, which may be relevant for matter-wave lasers. Stability boundaries for PT-symmetric and antisymmetric solitons are identified.

http://arxiv.org/abs/1212.5568

Quantum Gases (cond-mat.quant-gas); Pattern Formation and Solitons (nlin.PS)

We construct dark solitons in the recently introduced model of the nonlinear dual-core coupler with the mutually balanced gain and loss applied to the two cores, which is a realization of parity-time symmetry in nonlinear optics. The main issue is stability of the dark solitons. The modulational stability of the CW (continuous-wave) background, which supports the dark solitons, is studied analytically, and the full stability is investigated in a numerical form, via computation of eigenvalues for modes of small perturbations. Stability regions are thus identified in the parameter space of the system, and verified in direct simulations. Collisions between stable dark solitons are briefly considered too.

http://arxiv.org/abs/1211.3746
Optics (physics.optics); Pattern Formation and Solitons (nlin.PS)

Dynamics of symmetric and antisymmetric 2-solitons and 3-solitons is studied in the model of the nonlinear dual-core coupler and its PT-symmetric version. Regions of the convergence of the injected perturbed symmetric and antisymmetric N-solitons into symmetric and asymmetric quasi-solitons are found. In the PT-symmetric system, with the balanced gain and loss acting in the two cores, borders of the stability against the blowup are identified. Notably, in all the cases the stability regions are larger for antisymmetric 2-soliton inputs than for their symmetric counterparts, on the contrary to previously known results for fundamental solitons (N=1). Dynamical regimes (switching) are also studied for the 2-soliton injected into a single core of the coupler. In particular, a region of splitting of the input into a pair of symmetric solitons is found, which is explained as a manifestation of the resonance between the vibrations of the 2-soliton and oscillations of energy between the two cores in the coupler.

http://arxiv.org/abs/1207.3917
Optics (physics.optics); Pattern Formation and Solitons (nlin.PS)

We introduce four basic two-dimensional (2D) plaquette configurations with onsite cubic nonlinearities, which may be used as building blocks for 2D PT -symmetric lattices. For each configuration, we develop a dynamical model and examine its PT symmetry. The corresponding nonlinear modes are analyzed starting from the Hamiltonian limit, with zero value of the gain-loss coefficient. Once the relevant waveforms have been identified (chiefly, in an analytical form), their stability is examined by means of linearization in the vicinity of stationary points. This reveals diverse and, occasionally, fairly complex bifurcations. The evolution of unstable modes is explored by means of direct simulations. In particular, stable localized modes are found in these systems, although the majority of identified solutions is unstable.

http://arxiv.org/abs/1204.5530
Quantum Physics (quant-ph); High Energy Physics – Theory (hep-th)

We introduce a system based on dual-core nonlinear waveguides with the balanced gain and loss acting separately in the cores. The system features a “supersymmetry” when the gain and loss are equal to the inter-core coupling. This system admits a variety of exact solutions (we focus on solitons), which are subject to a specific subexponential instability. We demonstrate that the application of a “management”, in the form of periodic simultaneous switch of the sign of the gain, loss, and inter-coupling, effectively stabilizes solitons, without destroying the supersymmetry. The management turns the solitons into attractors, for which an attraction basin is identified. The initial amplitude asymmetry and phase mismatch between the components transforms the solitons into quasi-stable breathers.

http://arxiv.org/abs/1110.2409
Optics (physics.optics); Pattern Formation and Solitons (nlin.PS)

Dynamics of a chain of interacting parity-time invariant nonlinear dimers is investigated. A dimer is built as a pair of coupled elements with equal gain and loss. A relation between stationary soliton solutions of the model and solitons of the discrete nonlinear Schrodinger (DNLS) equation is demonstrated. Approximate solutions for solitons whose width is large in comparison to the lattice spacing are derived, using a continuum counterpart of the discrete equations. These solitons are mobile, featuring nearly elastic collisions. Stationary solutions for narrow solitons, which are immobile due to the pinning by the effective Peierls-Nabarro potential, are constructed numerically, starting from the anti-continuum limit. The solitons with the amplitude exceeding a certain critical value suffer an instability leading to blowup, which is a specific feature of the nonlinear PT-symmetric chain, making it dynamically different from DNLS lattices. A qualitative explanation of this feature is proposed. The instability threshold drops with the increase of the gain-loss coefficient, but it does not depend on the lattice coupling constant, nor on the soliton’s velocity.

http://arxiv.org/abs/1110.1501
Optics (physics.optics)

Families of analytical solutions are found for symmetric and antisymmetric solitons in the dual-core system with the Kerr nonlinearity and PT-balanced gain and loss. The crucial issue is stability of the solitons. A stability region is obtained in an analytical form, and verified by simulations, for the PT-symmetric solitons. For the antisymmetric ones, the stability border is found in a numerical form. Moving solitons of both types collide elastically. The two soliton species merge into one in the “supersymmetric” case, with equal coefficients of the gain, loss and inter-core coupling. These solitons feature a subexponential instability, which may be suppressed by periodic switching (“management”).

http://arxiv.org/abs/1109.5759
Optics (physics.optics); Pattern Formation and Solitons (nlin.PS)

We introduce a class of PT-symmetric systems which include mutually matched nonlinear loss and gain (inother words, a class of PT-invariant Hamiltonians in which both the harmonic and anharmonic parts are non-Hermitian). For a basic system in the form of a dimer, symmetric and asymmetric eigenstates, including multistable ones, are found analytically. We demonstrate that, if coupled to a linear chain, such a nonlinear PT-symmetric dimer generates new types of nonlinear resonances, with the completely suppressed or greatly amplified transmission, as well as a regime similar to the electromagnetically-induced transparency (EIT). The implementation of the systems is possible in various media admitting controllable linear and nonlinear amplification of waves.

http://arxiv.org/abs/1104.0849
Mathematical Physics (math-ph)