Light Stops at Exceptional Points

26 May 2020

T. Goldzak, A.A. Mailybaev and N. Moiseyev

A theoretical work of Moiseyev and his co-workers have shown for the first time the role of exceptional points in chemical systems. They also lay the foundation to the discovery of time asymmetric atomic, molecular and optical switches. In the most recent and exciting example exploiting this direction, Moiseyev together with Tamar Goldzak (his former PhD student of chemistry), and Alexei Mailybaev (a visiting Professor at the Technion from the National Mathematical Institute in Brazil) design an experiment where the speed of light is reduced to a full stop in optical waveguides. Their paper was published in Physical Review Letters and is already rapidly attracting enormous attention around the world. Reports on this discovery were, for example, given in NEWSWEEKMAILONLINEINDEPENDENT  journals. 

for the full article click here

 

 

figure

This figures show the wave packet propagating for 10ps along the z direction in a PT-symmetric two waveguide structure. In the left side of the plot , the PT-symmetric system is hermitian , i.e. no gain and loss , and the wave packet propagates about 1.4mm having a finite group velocity. In the left figure the PT- symmetric system is prepared at the EP (non-hermitian system with gain and loss) , the wave-packet doesn't propagates, having zero group velocity.