Synchronization in Coupled Laser Arrays with Correlated and Uncorrelated Disorder.

Area of Science:

• Physics
• Nonlinear Dynamics
• Quantum Optics

Background:

• Many-body systems exhibit complex behaviors influenced by disorder.
• Phase synchronization, or mutual coherence, is crucial in coupled oscillator systems like lasers.
• Understanding quenched disorder effects is key to controlling system dynamics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To experimentally investigate the impact of quenched disorder on phase synchronization in a coupled laser system.
• To quantify the relationship between disorder characteristics and mutual coherence.
• To explore the role of disorder correlation length in many-body system dynamics.

Main Methods:

• Experimentally controlled measurement of phase synchronization in 400 coupled lasers.
• Systematic variation of tunable disorder and coupling strengths.
• Validation of experimental findings through numerical simulations and analytic derivations.

Main Results:

• Correlated disorder was found to significantly decrease phase synchronization.
• The reduction in mutual coherence showed a dependence on the ratio of disorder correlation length to the average number of synchronized lasers.
• Experimental observations were consistent with theoretical models.

Conclusions:

• Quenched disorder, particularly correlated disorder, plays a nontrivial role in modulating phase synchronization in many-body systems.
• The findings provide insights into controlling coherence in complex laser networks.
• The study highlights the importance of disorder correlation in understanding collective phenomena.