paper

Universal routes to spontaneous PT-symmetry breaking in non-hermitian quantum systems

arXiv:1011.1385 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevA.83.030101

Abstract

PT-symmetric systems can have a real spectrum even when their Hamiltonian is non-hermitian, but develop a complex spectrum when the degree of non-hermiticity increases. Here we utilize random-matrix theory to show that this spontaneous PT-symmetry breaking can occur via two distinct mechanisms, whose predominance is associated to different universality classes. Present optical experiments fall into the orthogonal class, where symmetry-induced level crossings render the characteristic absorption rate independent of the coupling strength between the symmetry-related parts of the system.

4 pages, 2 figures

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