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Construction and Characterization of External Cavity Diode Lasers for Atomic Physics

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Published on: April 24, 2014

Observing Dissipative Topological Defects with Coupled Lasers.

Vishwa Pal¹, Chene Tradonsky¹, Ronen Chriki¹

¹Department of Physics of Complex Systems, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 7610001, Israel.

Physical Review Letters

|July 22, 2017

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Researchers observed dissipative topological defects in phased-locked lasers, linking their formation to the Kibble-Zurek mechanism. Controlling defect formation via competing timescales offers a path to defect-free states for computation.

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Area of Science:

Physics
Quantum Optics
Condensed Matter Physics

Background:

Topological defects form during phase transitions in various systems.
These defects impede system coherence and the achievement of ordered states.
Understanding defect origins and control is crucial for scientific advancement.

Purpose of the Study:

To observe and characterize dissipative topological defects in a specific system.
To investigate the role of the Kibble-Zurek mechanism in defect formation.
To explore methods for controlling defects for potential applications.

Main Methods:

Observation of topological defects in a one-dimensional ring of phased-locked lasers.
Analysis of defect formation dynamics governed by competing timescales.
Relating defect behavior to the universal principles of the Kibble-Zurek mechanism.

Main Results:

Dissipative topological defects were successfully observed in the laser system.
Defect formation was found to be universally governed by two competing timescales.
The ratio of these timescales, tunable via system parameters, influences defect density.

Conclusions:

The Kibble-Zurek mechanism universally describes defect formation in this dissipative system.
Tunable competing timescales offer a method to control topological defects.
Exploiting defect-free states could enable novel computational approaches.