Theory of hydrodynamic phenomena in optical mesh lattices

Abstract

Signatures of superfluid-like behavior have recently been observed experimentally in a nonlinear optical mesh lattice, where the arrival time of optical pulses propagating in a pair of coupled optical fiber loops is interpreted as a synthetic spatial dimension. Here we develop a general theory of the fluid of light in such optical mesh lattices. On the one hand, this theory provides a solid framework for an analytical and numerical interpretation of the experimental observations. On the other hand, it anticipates new physical effects stemming from the specific spatiotemporally periodic geometry of our setup. Our work opens the way towards the full exploitation of optical mesh lattices system as a promising platform for studies of hydrodynamics phenomena in fluids of light in novel configurations.