Issue |
EPL
Volume 120, Number 6, December 2017
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | 64001 | |
Number of page(s) | 7 | |
Section | Electromagnetism, Optics, Acoustics, Heat Transfer, Classical Mechanics, and Fluid Dynamics | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1209/0295-5075/120/64001 | |
Published online | 26 February 2018 |
Parity-time symmetry meets photonics: A new twist in non-Hermitian optics
Dipartimento di Fisica, Politecnico di Milano - Piazza L. da Vinci 32, I-20133 Milano, Italy and Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnlogie del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Sezione di Milano Piazza L. da Vinci 32, I-20133 Milano, Italy
Received: 12 February 2018
Accepted: 13 February 2018
In the past decade, the concept of parity-time symmetry, originally introduced in non-Hermitian extensions of quantum mechanical theories, has come into thinking of photonics, providing a fertile ground for studying, observing, and utilizing some of the peculiar aspects of symmetry in optics. Together with related concepts of non-Hermitian physics of open quantum systems, such as non-Hermitian degeneracies (exceptional points) and spectral singularities, symmetry represents one among the most fruitful ideas introduced in optics in the past few years. Judicious tailoring of optical gain and loss in integrated photonic structures has emerged as a new paradigm in shaping the flow of light in unprecedented ways, with major applications encompassing laser science and technology, optical sensing, and optical material engineering. In this perspective, I review some of the main achievements and emerging areas of -symmetric and non-Hermtian photonics, and provide an outline of challenges and directions for future research in one of the fastest growing research area of photonics.
PACS: 42.25.Fx – Diffraction and scattering / 42.82.Et – Waveguides, couplers, and arrays / 11.30.Er – Charge conjugation, parity, time reversal, and other discrete symmetries
© EPLA, 2018
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