Anti-parity–time symmetry with flying atoms
Abstrak
The recently developed notion of parity–time (PT) symmetry in optical systems has spawned intriguing prospects. So far, most experimental implementations have been reported in solid-state systems. Here, we report the first experimental demonstration of optical anti-PT symmetry—the counterpart of conventional PT symmetry—in a warm atomic-vapour cell. Rapid coherence transport via flying atoms leads to a dissipative coupling between two long-lived atomic spin waves, allowing for the observation of the essential features of anti-PT symmetry with unprecedented precision on the phase-transition threshold, as well as refractionless light propagation. Moreover, we show that a linear or nonlinear interaction between the two spatially separated beams can be achieved. Our results advance non-Hermitian physics by bridging to the field of atomic, molecular and optical physics, where new phenomena and applications in quantum and nonlinear optics aided by (anti-)PT symmetry could be anticipated. Parity–time symmetry in optics is studied in a warm atomic vapour, where its counterpart, anti-parity–time symmetry, as well as refractionless propagation, can also be observed.
Topik & Kata Kunci
Penulis (7)
Peng Peng
Wanxia Cao
Ce Shen
Weizhi Qu
J. Wen
Liang Jiang
Yanhong Xiao
Akses Cepat
- Tahun Terbit
- 2015
- Bahasa
- en
- Total Sitasi
- 408×
- Sumber Database
- Semantic Scholar
- DOI
- 10.1038/nphys3842
- Akses
- Open Access ✓