Coherent perfect absorption with and without lasing in complex potentials

Abstract

We prove that coherent perfect absorption (CPA) without lasing is {\bf not} possible in the PT-symmetric domain as the s-matrix is such that $|\det S(\pm k)|=1$. We study coherent scattering from three complex potentials, one solved analytically and the other two numerically. We conjecture that in the domain of unbroken symmetry (when the potential has real discrete spectrum) neither spectral singularity nor CPA can occur. We show that Scarf II potential is a special model that can analytically and explicitly exhibit these as well as other novel phenomena and their subtleties. \pacs{03.65-w, 03.65.Nk, 11.30.Er, 42.25.Bs, 42.79.Gn

12 pages, Six figures (3 parts in each). arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1308.1270 (To appear in J. Phys. A: Theor. & Gen.)

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Cited by in corpus (7)

• $\mathcal{P}\mathcal{T}$ symmetry breaking for the scattering problem in a one-dimensional non-Hermitian lattice model
• A new solvable complex PT-symmetric potential
• Accidental crossings of eigenvalues in one-dimensional complex PT-symmetric Scarf-II potential
• A black potential for spin less particles
• Coherent scattering from semi-infinite non-Hermitian potentials
• Transmission singularities in resonant electron tunneling through double complex potential barrier
• Reciprocity in parity violating non-Hermitian systems