Parity-time Symmetry and Its Applications

Abstract

This book offers a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art theoretical and experimental advances in linear and nonlinear parity-time-symmetric systems in various physical disciplines, and surveys the emerging applications of parity-time (PT) symmetry. PT symmetry originates from quantum mechanics, where if the Schrodinger operator satisfies the PT symmetry, then its spectrum can be all real. This concept was later introduced into optics, Bose-Einstein condensates, metamaterials, electric circuits, acoustics, mechanical systems and many other fields, where a judicious balancing of gain and loss constitutes a PT-symmetric system. Even though these systems are dissipative, they exhibit many signature properties of conservative systems, which make them mathematically and physically intriguing. Important PT-symmetry applications have also emerged. This book describes the latest advances of PT symmetry in a wide range of physical areas, with contributions from the leading experts. It is intended for researchers and graduate students to enter this research frontier, or use it as a reference book. Linear and Nonlinear Experiments in PT-Symmetric Photonic Mesh Lattices -- PT-Symmetry on-a-Chip: Harnessing Optical Loss for Novel Integrated Photonic Functionality -- Parity-Time Symmetry in Scattering Problems -- Scattering Theory and PT-Symmetry -- Passive PT-symmetry in laser-written optical waveguide structures -- Non-Hermitian effects due to asymmetric backscattering of light in whispering-gallery microcavities -- Exact Results for a Special PT-symmetric Optical Potential -- Parity-time-symmetric optical lattices in atomic configurations -- Effects of exceptional points in PT-symmetric waveguides -- Higher order exceptional points in discrete photonics platforms -- Non-Hermitian Optical Waveguide Couplers -- Parity-Time Symmetric Plasmonics -- PT-symmetry and non-Hermitian wave transport in microwaves and RF circuits -- Coupled nonlinear Schrodinger equations with gain and loss: modeling PT-symmetry -- Making the PT symmetry unbreakable -- Krein signature in Hamiltonian and PT-symmetric systems -- Integrable nonlocal PT-symmetric and reverse space-time nonlinear Schrodinger equations -- Construction of non-PT-symmetric complex potentials with all-real spectra -- Constant-Intensity Waves in Non-Hermitian Media -- Nonlinear Beam Propagation in a Class of Complex Non-PT-Symmetric Potentials.