Petermann factors and phase rigidities near exceptional points

Abstract

The Petermann factor and the phase rigidity are convenient measures for various aspects of open quantum and wave systems, such as the sensitivity of energy eigenvalues to perturbations or the magnitude of quantum excess noise in lasers. We discuss the behavior of these two important quantities near non-Hermitian degeneracies, so-called exceptional points. For small generic perturbations, we derive analytically explicit formulas, which reveal a relation to the spectral response strength of the exceptional point. These formulas shed light on the possibilities for enhanced sensing in passive systems. The predictions of the general theory are successfully compared to analytical solutions of a toy model. Moreover, it is demonstrated that the connection between the Petermann factor and the spectral response strength provides the basis for an efficient numerical scheme to calculate the latter. Our theory is also important in the presence of the unavoidable imperfections in the fabrication of exceptional points as it allows to determine of what is left of the sensitivity for such imperfect exceptional points studied in experiments.