In this paper, we study the \(\phi^4\) kink scattering from a spatially localized PT-symmetric defect and the effect of the kink’s internal mode (IM) is discussed. It is demonstrated that if a kink hits the defect from the gain side, a noticeable IM is excited, while for the kink coming from the opposite direction the mode excitation is much weaker. This asymmetry is a principal finding of the present work. Similar to the case of the sine-Gordon kink studied earlier, it is found that the \(\\phi^4\) kink approaching the defect from the gain side always passes through the defect, while in the opposite case it must have sufficiently large initial velocity, otherwise it is trapped by the loss region. It is found that for the kink with IM the critical velocity is smaller, meaning that the kink bearing IM can pass more easily through the loss region. This feature, namely the “increased transparency” of the defect as regards the motion of the kink in the presence of IM is the second key finding of the present work. A two degree of freedom collective variable model offered recently by one of the co-authors is shown to be capable of reproducing both principal findings of the present work. A simpler, analytically tractable single degree of freedom collective variable method is used to calculate analytically the kink phase shift and the kink critical velocity sufficient to pass through the defect. Comparison with the numerical results suggests that the collective variable method is able to predict these parameters with a high accuracy.

http://arxiv.org/abs/1411.5857
Pattern Formation and Solitons (nlin.PS)

In a thin multidimensional layer we consider a second order differential PT-symmetric operator. The operator is of rather general form and its coefficients are arbitrary functions depending both on slow and fast variables. The PT-symmetry of the operator is ensured by the boundary conditions of Robin type with pure imaginary coefficient. In the work we determine the limiting operator, prove the uniform resolvent convergence of the perturbed operator to the limiting one, and derive the estimates for the rates of convergence. We establish the convergence of the spectrum of perturbed operator to that of the limiting one. For the perturbed eigenvalues converging to the limiting discrete ones we prove that they are real and construct their complete asymptotic expansions. We also obtain the complete asymptotic expansions for the associated eigenfunctions.

http://arxiv.org/abs/1403.4524

Spectral Theory (math.SP); Mathematical Physics (math-ph); Analysis of PDEs (math.AP)

We consider a model of planar PT-symmetric waveguide and study the phenomenon of the eigenvalues collision under the perturbation of boundary conditions. This phenomenon was discovered numerically in previous works. The main result of this work is an analytic explanation of this phenomenon.

http://arxiv.org/abs/1401.6316
Spectral Theory (math.SP); Mathematical Physics (math-ph); Analysis of PDEs (math.AP)

The Laplacian in an unbounded tubular neighbourhood of a hyperplane with non-Hermitian complex-symmetric Robin-type boundary conditions is investigated in the limit when the width of the neighbourhood diminishes. We show that the Laplacian converges in a norm resolvent sense to a self-adjoint Schroedinger operator in the hyperplane whose potential is expressed solely in terms of the boundary coupling function. As a consequence, we are able to explain some peculiar spectral properties of the non-Hermitian Laplacian by known results for Schroedinger operators.

http://arxiv.org/abs/1102.5051
Spectral Theory (math.SP); Mathematical Physics (math-ph)