We show that complex PT-symmetric photonic lattices can lead to a new class of self-imaging Talbot effects. For this to occur, we find that the input field pattern, has to respect specific periodicities which are dictated by the symmetries of the sys
tem. While at the spontaneous PT-symmetry breaking point, the image revivals occur at Talbot lengths governed by the characteristics of the passive lattice, at the exact phase it depends on the gain and loss parameter thus allowing one to control the imaging process.
The beat time {tau}_{fpt} associated with the energy transfer between two coupled oscillators is dictated by the bandwidth theorem which sets a lower bound {tau}_{fpt}sim 1/{delta}{omega}. We show, both experimentally and theoretically, that two coup
led active LRC electrical oscillators with parity-time (PT) symmetry, bypass the lower bound imposed by the bandwidth theorem, reducing the beat time to zero while retaining a real valued spectrum and fixed eigenfrequency difference {delta}{omega}. Our results foster new design strategies which lead to (stable) pseudo-unitary wave evolution, and may allow for ultrafast computation, telecommunication, and signal processing.
We show that non-linear optical structures involving a balanced gain-loss profile, can act as unidirectional optical valves. This is made possible by exploiting the interplay between the fundamental symmetries of parity (P) and time (T), with optical
nonlinear effects. This novel unidirectional dynamics is specifically demonstrated for the case of an integrable PT-symmetric nonlinear system.
