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Journal of Physics A Mathematical and Theoretical

Landau–Zener–Stückelberg interferometry in $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric optical waveguides

Sebastián A. Reyes, Felipe Olivares, L. Morales-Molina

Published Oct 23, 2012• 20 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We investigate theoretically the non-adiabatic transitions in a -symmetric lattice subject to a strong ac force. In an optical realization of the lattice, the curvature of the waveguides along the paraxial propagation direction plays the role of the external periodic force necessary to drive the system through an avoided level crossing. Analytical expressions for the transition probabilities after multiple passages are obtained within an effective two-mode approximation. We show that gain and losses of the light beam, as well as the relative occupation probabilities of the bands involved in the transitions, can be accurately managed upon tuning the parameters of the system and are particularly sensitive to the amplitude of the non-Hermitian component of the lattice. Numerical simulations for the complete system are found to agree very well with the approximate analytical results. This article is part of a special issue of Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical devoted to 'Quantum physics with non-Hermitian operators'.

DOI
10.1088/1751-8113/45/44/444027

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Landau–Zener–Stückelberg interferometry in PT\mathcal{PT}PT-symmetric optical waveguides
We investigate theoretically the non-adiabatic transitions in a -symmetric lattice subject to a strong ac force. In an optical realization of the lattice, the curvature of the waveguides along the paraxial propagation direction plays the role of the external periodic force necessary to drive the system through an avoided level crossing. Analytical expressions for the transition probabilities after multiple passages are obtained within an effective two-mode approximation. We show that gain and losses of the light beam, as well as the relative occupation probabilities of the bands involved in the transitions, can be accurately managed upon tuning the parameters of the system and are particularly sensitive to the amplitude of the non-Hermitian component of the lattice. Numerical simulations for the complete system are found to agree very well with the approximate analytical results. This article is part of a special issue of Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical devoted to 'Quantum physics with non-Hermitian operators'.
We study Landau-Zener interband transitions for a non-symmetric optical lattice in the presence of an external force. We show that gain and losses of the light beam, as well as the relative occupation probabilities of the bands involved in the transitions can be accurately managed upon tuning the amplitude of the non-Hermitian component of the lattice. Exact expressions for the transition and non-transition probabilities for a non-symmetric system obtained within a two-mode approximation are provided. These equations successfully account for the main features of the transitions in the optical lattice. We also interpret the non-conventional Bloch oscillations at criticality studied in Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 123601 (2009) as a series of a Landau-Zener transitions.
We systematically investigate the non-Hermitian generalizations of the Landau-Zener (LZ) transition and the Landau-Zener-St\"uckelberg (LZS) interferometry. The LZ transition probabilities, or band populations, are calculated for a generic non-Hermitian model and their asymptotic behavior is analyzed. We then focus on non-Hermitian systems with a real adiabatic parameter and study the LZS interferometry formed out of two identical avoided level crossings. Four distinctive cases of interferometry are identified and the analytic formulas for the transition probabilities are calculated for each case. The differences and similarities between the non-Hermitian case and its Hermitian counterpart are emphasized. In particular, the geometrical phase originated from the sign change of the mass term at the two level crossings is still present in the non-Hermitian system, indicating its robustness against the non-Hermiticity. We further apply our non-Hermitian LZS theory to describing the Bloch oscillation in one-dimensional parity-time (PT)(\mathcal{PT})(PT) reversal symmetric non-Hermitian Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model and propose an experimental scheme to simulate such dynamics using photonic waveguide arrays. The Landau-Zener transition, as well as the LZS interferometry, can be visualized through the beam intensity profile and the transition probabilities measured by the center of mass of the profile.
Abstract Exceptional points, which are spectral degeneracy points in the complex parameter space, are fundamental to non‐Hermitian quantum systems. The dynamics of non‐Hermitian systems in the presence of exceptional points differ significantly from those of Hermitian ones. Here, non‐adiabatic transitions in non‐Hermitian ‐symmetric systems are investigated, in which the exceptional points are driven through at finite speeds which are quadratic or cubic functions of time. Different transmission dynamics separated by exceptional points are identified, and analytical approximate formulas for the non‐adiabatic transmission probabilities are derived. Possible experimental realizations with a ‐symmetric non‐Hermitian 1D tight‐binding optical waveguide lattice are discussed through non‐Hermitian Bloch oscillations between different bands.
Analysis of fundamentally open systems which exhibit both spatial reflection (parity) and time-reversal symmetry, called PT-symmetric [1] systems, has played an important role in understanding the dynamics of a broad class of non-Hermitian systems. Such systems support distinct regimes of stability and instability respectively, and the transition between these plays an important role in the system dynamics. We investigate a variety of non-Hermitian systems which exhibit a PT-symmetry breaking transition in both classical and quantum contexts using an array of theoretical and numerical approaches which are directly amenable to physical experiments. Organizationally, we divide these studies into those done on classical and quantum systems. Specifically for classical systems we analyze several interesting phenomena in the context of optical waveguide arrays. These provide an important testing ground for much of the discrete, PT-symmetric theory. In our case, we analyze PT-symmetric extensions of several interesting lattice models. Firstly, we explore single gain/loss pair, PT-symmetric extensions of the Su-Schreiffer-Heeger (SSH) model [2] and the Aubry-Andre-Harper (AAH) model [3,4]. In both cases, we find a veiled symmetry which is responsible for the PT-symmetry. Secondly we expand upon the Rudner-Levitov (RL) model [5,6], a non-Hermitian extension of the SSH model with multiple gain/loss pairs, and we explore the dependence of topological phenomena on changes in the initial state as well as their robustness in the presence of gain-induced nonlinearity. For quantum systems, we explore the rich PT-symmetric phase diagram resulting from time-periodic, Floquet PT-symmetry [7,8]. This is experimentally implementable in ultracold atomic systems [9], and features a reentrant PT-symmetric phase. Secondly, we examine quantum multi-photon statistics for a simple non-Hermitian model which is transformed and mapped to a system with unitary evolution via a unitary dilation, and is fully realizable on a small-scale quantum simulator [10].
Time evolution of spin-orbit-coupled cold atoms in an optical lattice is studied, with a two-band energy spectrum having two avoided crossings. A force is applied such that the atoms experience two consecutive Landau-Zener tunnelings while transversing the avoided crossings. St\"uckelberg interference arises from the phase accumulated during the adiabatic evolution between the two tunnelings. This phase is gauge field dependent and thus provides new opportunities to measure the synthetic gauge field, which is verified via calculation of spin transition probabilities after a double-passage process. Time-dependent and time-averaged spin probabilities are derived, in which resonances are found. We also demonstrate chiral Bloch oscillation and rich spin-momentum locking behavior in this system.
We experimentally demonstrate PT-symmetric optical lattices with periodical gain and loss profiles in a coherently prepared four-level N-type atomic system. By appropriately tuning the pertinent atomic parameters, the onset of PT-symmetry breaking is observed through measuring an abrupt phase-shift jump between adjacent gain and loss waveguides. The experimental realization of such a readily reconfigurable and effectively controllable PT-symmetric waveguide array structure sets a new stage for further exploiting and better understanding the peculiar physical properties of these non-Hermitian systems in atomic settings.