Interplay of disorder and PT -symmetry in

optical lattices
Cristian Meja-Cortes and Mario I. Molina

Grupo de Optica
no Lineal,
Departamento de Fsica, Facultad de Ciencias,
Universidad de Chile
26 de noviembre de 2014

Introduction
The model
Transport properties

Outline
a Introduction:
: Hermiticity and PT -symmetry.
: Disorder and localization.
: Optical lattices with gain and loss.

a The model:
: Binary optical lattices.
: The discrete Schrodinger equation.
: Dispersion relation.

a Transport properties:
: Narrow excitation.
: Extended excitation.

a Summary

Cristian Meja-Cortes and Mario I. Molina

Interplay of disorder and PT -symmetry in optical lattices

Introduction
The model
Transport properties

Hermiticity and PT -symmetry

Disorder and localization
PT lattices

Dirac Hermiticity
=H
, guarantees real energy (eigenvalues) and
: H
probability-conserving time evolution.

: Dirac Hermiticity can be generalized by a physical and

weaker condition of PT symmetry.
19

T Time reversal (antilinear)

p
p, x
x
, i i

17
15
13
Energy

P Parity (linear)
x

x, p
p

11
9
7
5

= p2 (i
H
x)N

3
1
1

3
N

Bender
andofS.the
Boettcher
PRL 80, 5243 (1998).
FIG.Carl
1. M.
Energy
levels
Hamiltonian
Cristian Meja-Cortes and Mario I. Molina

Interplay of disorder and PT -symmetry in optical lattices

Introduction
The model
Transport properties

Hermiticity and PT -symmetry

Disorder and localization
PT lattices

Anderson localization
: Philip Anderson (1958) Tiny modifications in crystals, e.g.,
small defects, change the behavior of electrons.
: They had been flowing freely through the crystal, and
disorder could cause them to suddenly come to stop.

: Anderson localization (AL) absence of diffusion of waves in

a random medium otherwise expected to be conductive.
AL tight-binding model
= H
ih
Hj = Ej j + kj V (k j)k
M2 = n n2 n (t)2 C
P. Bouyer/CNRS, Nature 453, 891-894 (2008)
Cristian Meja-Cortes and Mario I. Molina

Interplay of disorder and PT -symmetry in optical lattices

Introduction
The model
Transport properties

Hermiticity and PT -symmetry

Disorder and localization
PT lattices

Waveguided array
Optical lattices with gain and loss and disorder

: Waveguide array with refractive index (yellow).

Cristian Meja-Cortes and Mario I. Molina

Interplay of disorder and PT -symmetry in optical lattices

Introduction
The model
Transport properties

Hermiticity and PT -symmetry

Disorder and localization
PT lattices

Waveguided array
Optical lattices with gain and loss and disorder

: Waveguide array with refractive index (yellow).

: Alternating gain (blue) and losses (red).

Cristian Meja-Cortes and Mario I. Molina

Interplay of disorder and PT -symmetry in optical lattices

Introduction
The model
Transport properties

Hermiticity and PT -symmetry

Disorder and localization
PT lattices

Waveguided array
Optical lattices with gain and loss and disorder

: Waveguide array with refractive index (yellow).

: Alternating gain (blue) and losses (red).
: Disordered array (), random refractive index (random color).

Cristian Meja-Cortes and Mario I. Molina

Interplay of disorder and PT -symmetry in optical lattices

Introduction
The model
Transport properties

Hermiticity and PT -symmetry

Disorder and localization
PT lattices

Waveguided array
Optical lattices with gain and loss and disorder

: Waveguide array with refractive index (yellow).

: Alternating gain (blue) and losses (red).
: Disordered array (), random refractive index (random color).
+ ,

Cristian Meja-Cortes and Mario I. Molina

[W, W ]

Interplay of disorder and PT -symmetry in optical lattices

Introduction
The model
Transport properties

Binary optical lattices

Dispersion relation

Weakly-coupled array of optical waveguides

n2,2

n+1,2

n+1,1
C1

C2

C1

C2

C1

n,2

n,1

n1,2

n1,1

C2

n+2,1
C1

dn,1
+ C1 n1,2 + C2 n,2 + (n,1 in,1 )n,1 = 0
dz
dn,2
+ C1 n+1,1 + C2 n,1 + (n,2 + in,2 )n,2 = 0
i
dz
i

P = n,1 + n,2 ,
2

Cristian Meja-Cortes and Mario I. Molina

R=

P2

n n,1 + n,2
4

Interplay of disorder and PT -symmetry in optical lattices

Introduction
The model
Transport properties

Binary optical lattices

Dispersion relation

Dispersion relation
Stationary solutions,
n,1(2) (z) = n,1(2) exp (ikn + iz)
Eigenproblem, (k, ) = 2 + 1 + C 2 + 2C cos k , C C2 /C1
2

k=0
k=/5
k=2/5
k=3/5
k=4/5
k=

0
log g

-2

R I

-4

1
0

-
0

R k

R k

=
=

C1 - C2

C1 + C2

2
1
R d k = N,

2 0
2
2
N
.
dk 2

2 0
C1 + C22 22 + 2C1 C2 cos k

Cristian Meja-Cortes and Mario I. Molina

Interplay of disorder and PT -symmetry in optical lattices

Introduction
The model
Transport properties

Narrow excitation
Extended excitation

Delta function-like input

Evolution of a narrow beam focused on the central guide

Measured output

Waveguide number

10
5
0
5

10
0

3
4
5
Propagation length (cm)

Christodoulides et al, Nature 424, 817-823 (2003).

Mean square displacement M2 =

Cristian Meja-Cortes and Mario I. Molina

2
N
2
i=1 (nnc ) i
.
N
2
i=1 i

Interplay of disorder and PT -symmetry in optical lattices

Introduction
The model
Transport properties

Narrow excitation
Extended excitation

Disordered arrays
Average over Nr = 200 different disorder realizations

200

=0.0
=0.1

160

60
=0.0
=0.05
=0.08
=0.1

30

24

M2W [10 ]

18
12
6
0
0

70

140 210 280

50

80

=0.2
=0.3

450
360
270
180
90
0
0

40

0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8

0
0

120

RW

90

M2(z)W [103]

R(z)W

120

100

150

200

250

300

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

: The number of excited sites diminish with the increment of .

M2 also evolves towards a saturation as expected from AL.
: M2 decreases steadily, as a power law, as the width of the
disorder increases. Similar behaviour for R.

Cristian Meja-Cortes and Mario I. Molina

Interplay of disorder and PT -symmetry in optical lattices

Introduction
The model
Transport properties

Narrow excitation
Extended excitation

Plane wave input

Transmission accross a segment of size L

d n
+ Cn,n1 n1 + Cn,n+1 n+1 + n n = 0
dz
n = 1 + in + n
n = {

R0 eikn + R1 eikn , n 0,
R2 eikn , n L

n1 =

( n )n Cn,n+1 n+1
Cn,n1

Cristian Meja-Cortes and Mario I. Molina

Interplay of disorder and PT -symmetry in optical lattices

Introduction
The model
Transport properties

Narrow excitation
Extended excitation

Averaged transmission
Disordered segment of size L with alternating gain and losses

=0.0
=0.2
=0.4

W=0.1
W=0.2
W=0.3

10

log TW

10

-1

10

=0.1

w=0.1

-1

10

50

100 150 200 250 300 350 400

L

50

100 150 200 250 300 350 400

L

: T decreases with L, and this tendency is stronger when the

width of disorder increases.
: As the gain and loss coefficient is increased (for fixed
disorder and fixed L), the transmission increases with .

Cristian Meja-Cortes and Mario I. Molina

Interplay of disorder and PT -symmetry in optical lattices

Introduction
The model
Transport properties

Narrow excitation
Extended excitation

Summary
: We have examined the transport of excitations across a 1D
disordered binary lattice, plus the presence of gain and loss.
In the absence of disorder, the system is PT -symmetric.
: As soon as disorder is introduced, the system goes into the
broken PT -symmetry phase, and that the presence of gain
and loss tends to reinforce the action of disorder.
: For the case of the delta-like initial beam, we observe that
its propagation is somewhat inhibited by an increase in gain
and loss.
: In the opposite case, the transmission of plane waves across
a binary lattice segment with disorder and gain and loss,
tends to increase the transmission.

Cristian Meja-Cortes and Mario I. Molina

Interplay of disorder and PT -symmetry in optical lattices

Introduction
The model
Transport properties

Narrow excitation
Extended excitation

Acknowledgments
This work was supported in part by:
: Fondo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologa (Grants 3140608)
: Programa Iniciativa Cientfica Milenio (Grant P10-030-F)
: Programa de Financiamiento Basal (Grants FB0824)

Gracias!

Cristian Meja-Cortes and Mario I. Molina

Interplay of disorder and PT -symmetry in optical lattices