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Pulse-timing symmetry breaking in an excitable optical system with delay
Soizic Terrien1, Venkata A Pammi2, Bernd Krauskopf1
1The Dodd-Walls Centre for Photonic and Quantum Technologies, The University of Auckland, New Zealand.
Physical Review. E
|February 19, 2021
Summary
Excitable systems with delayed feedback exhibit multistable pulsing regimes. We discovered pulse-timing symmetry breaking in an optical system, driven by resonance, leading to stable, asymmetric states.
Area of Science:
- Physics
- Optics
- Nonlinear Dynamics
Background:
- Excitable systems with delayed feedback are crucial in biology, neuroscience, and optics.
- These systems support multistable pulsing regimes with equidistant pulses in the feedback loop.
Purpose of the Study:
- To experimentally and theoretically investigate pulse-timing symmetry breaking in such regimes within an optical system.
- To understand the underlying mechanisms and stability of these phenomena.
Main Methods:
- Utilized an optical system to demonstrate and study the phenomenon.
- Performed bifurcation analysis to uncover the origins of symmetry breaking.
- Investigated parameter space regions for stability of symmetry-broken states.
Main Results:
- Observed and characterized pulse-timing symmetry breaking in multistable pulsing regimes.
- Identified a resonance phenomenon as the origin of symmetry breaking.
- Demonstrated that symmetry-broken states are stable across extensive parameter regions.
Conclusions:
- Symmetry breaking in these optical systems arises from resonance.
- Stable, symmetry-broken states exist in large parameter spaces.
- Findings have significant implications for photonics, including optical computing and pulse generation.
