We introduce the notion of a ${cal PT}$-symmetric dimer with a $chi^{(2)}$ nonlinearity. Similarly to the Kerr case, we argue that such a nonlinearity should be accessible in a pair of optical waveguides with quadratic nonlinearity and gain and loss,
respectively. An interesting feature of the problem is that because of the two harmonics, there exist in general two distinct gain/loss parameters, different values of which are considered herein. We find a number of traits that appear to be absent in the more standard cubic case. For instance, bifurcations of nonlinear modes from the linear solutions occur in two different ways depending on whether the first or the second harmonic amplitude is vanishing in the underlying linear eigenvector. Moreover, a host of interesting bifurcation phenomena appear to occur including saddle-center and pitchfork bifurcations which our parametric variations elucidate. The existence and stability analysis of the stationary solutions is corroborated by numerical time-evolution simulations exploring the evolution of the different configurations, when unstable.
We consider a binary Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) with nonlinear repulsive interactions and linear spin-orbit (SO) and Zeeman-splitting couplings. In the presence of the trapping harmonic-oscillator (HO) potential, we report the existence of even,
odd, and asymmetric spatial modes. They feature alternating domains with opposite directions of the pseudo-spin, i.e., anti-ferromagnetic structures, which is explained by the interplay of the linear couplings, HO confinement, and repulsive self-interaction. The number of the domains is determined by the strength of the SO coupling. The modes are constructed analytically in the weakly nonlinear system. The dynamical stability of the modes is investigated by means of the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations and direct simulations. A notable result is that the multi-domain-wall (DW) structures are stable, alternating between odd and even shapes, while the simplest single-DW structure is unstable. Thus, the system features a transition to the complex ground states under the action of the SO coupling. The addition of the Zeeman splitting transforms the odd modes into asymmetric ones via spontaneous symmetry breaking. The results suggest possibilities for switching the binary system between states with opposite (pseudo) magnetization by external fields, and realization of similar stable states and dynamical effects in solid-state and nonlinear-optical settings emulated by the SO-coupled BECs.
In this work, we propose a PT-symmetric coupler whose arms are birefringent waveguides as a realistic physical model which leads to a so-called quadrimer i.e., a four complex field setting. We seek stationary solutions of the resulting linear and non
linear model, identifying its linear point of PT symmetry breaking and examining the corresponding nonlinear solutions that persist up to this point, as well as, so-called, ghost states that bifurcate from them. We obtain the relevant symmetry breaking bifurcations and numerically follow the associated dynamics which give rise to growth/decay even within the PT-symmetric phase. Our obtained stationary nonlinear solutions are found to terminate in saddle-center bifurcations which are analogous to the linear PT-phase transition.
We prove existence of discrete solitons in infinite parity-time (PT-) symmetric lattices by means of analytical continuation from the anticontinuum limit. The energy balance between dissipation and gain implies that in the anticontinuum limit the sol
itons are constructed from elementary PT-symmetric blocks such as dimers, quadrimers, or more general oligomers. We consider in detail a chain of coupled dimers, analyze bifurcations of discrete solitons from the anticontinuum limit and show that the solitons are stable in a sufficiently large region of the lattice parameters. The generalization of the approach is illustrated on two examples of networks of quadrimers, for which stable discrete solitons are also found.
By rearrangements of waveguide arrays with gain and losses one can simulate transformations among parity-time (PT-) symmetric systems not affecting their pure real linear spectra. Subject to such transformations, however, the nonlinear properties of
the systems undergo significant changes. On an example of an array of four waveguides described by the discrete nonlinear Schrodinger equation with dissipation and gain, we show that the equivalence of the underlying linear spectra implies similarity of neither structure nor stability of the nonlinear modes in the arrays. Even the existence of one-parametric families of nonlinear modes is not guaranteed by the PT symmetry of a newly obtained system. Neither the stability is directly related to the PT symmetry: stable nonlinear modes exist even when the spectrum of the linear array is not purely real. We use graph representation of PT-symmetric networks allowing for simple illustration of linearly equivalent networks and indicating on their possible experimental design.
We theoretically demonstrate the possibility to observe the macroscopic Zeno effect for nonlinear waveguides with a localized dissipation. We show the existence of stable stationary flows, which are balanced by the losses in the dissipative domain. T
he macroscopic Zeno effect manifests itself in the non-monotonic dependence of the stationary flow on the strength of the dissipation. In particular, we highlight the importance of the parameters of the dissipation to observe the phenomenon. Our results are applicable to a large variety of systems, including condensates of atoms or quasi-particles and optical waveguides.
