No abstract

We investigate the effect of nonlinearity on beam dynamics in parity-time (PT) symmetric potentials. We show that a novel class of one- and two-dimensional nonlinear self-trapped modes can exist in optical PT synthetic lattices. These solitons are shown to be stable over a wide range of potential parameters. The transverse power flow within these complex solitons is also examined.

Starting from Lagrangian principles we develop a formalism suitable for describing coupled optical parity-time symmetric systems.

A new integrable nonlocal nonlinear Schrödinger equation is introduced. It possesses a Lax pair and an infinite number of conservation laws and is PT symmetric. The inverse scattering transform and scattering data with suitable symmetries are discussed. A method to find pure soliton solutions is given. An explicit breathing one soliton solution is found. Key properties are discussed and contrasted with the classical nonlinear Schrödinger equation.

The possibility of parity-time (PT) symmetric periodic potentials is investigated within the context of optics. Beam dynamics in this new type of optical structures is examined in detail for both one- and two-dimensional lattice geometries. It is shown that PT periodic structures can exhibit unique characteristics stemming from the nonorthogonality of the associated Floquet-Bloch modes. Some of these features include double refraction, power oscillations, and eigenfunction unfolding as well as nonreciprocal diffraction patterns.