Spontaneous symmetry breaking in photonic lattices: Theory and experiment

P. G. Kevrekidis*, Zhigang Chen, B. A. Malomed, D. J. Frantzeskakis, M. I. Weinstein

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

108 Scopus citations

Abstract

We examine an example of spontaneous symmetry breaking in a double-well waveguide with a symmetric potential. The ground state of the system beyond a critical power becomes asymmetric. The effect is illustrated numerically, and quantitatively analyzed via a Galerkin truncation that clearly shows the bifurcation from a symmetric to an asymmetric steady state. This phenomenon is also demonstrated experimentally when a probe beam is launched appropriately into an optically induced photonic lattice in a photorefractive material.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)275-280
Number of pages6
JournalPhysics Letters, Section A: General, Atomic and Solid State Physics
Volume340
Issue number1-4
DOIs
StatePublished - 6 Jun 2005

Funding

FundersFunder number
NSF-CAREER
NSF-DMS-0204585
Air Force Office of Scientific Research
Army Research Office
Eppley Foundation for Research
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Israel Science Foundation8006/03, NSF-DMS-0412305

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