Scattering in $\mathcal{P}\mathcal{T}$ and $\mathcal{R}\mathcal{T}$ Symmetric Multimode Waveguides: Generalized Conservation Laws and Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking beyond One Dimension

Abstract

We extend the generalize conservation law of light propagating in a one-dimensional $\mathcal{P}\mathcal{T}$-symmetric system, i.e., $|T-1|=\sqrt{R_L{R}_R}$ for the transmittance $T$ and the reflectance $R_{L,R}$ from the left and right, to a multimode waveguide with either $\mathcal{P}\mathcal{T}$ or $\mathcal{R}\mathcal{T}$ symmetry, in which higher dimensional investigations are necessary. These conservation laws exist not only in a matrix form for the transmission and reflection matrices; they also exist in a scalar form for real-valued quantities by defining generalized transmittance and reflectance. We then discuss, for the first time, how a multimode $\mathcal{P}\mathcal{T}$-symmetric waveguide can be used to observe spontaneous symmetry breaking of the scattering matrix, which typically requires tuning the non-hermiticity of the system (i.e. the strength of gain and loss). Here the advantage of using a multimode waveguide is the elimination of tuning any system parameters: the transverse mode order $m$ plays the role of the symmetry breaking parameter, and one observes the symmetry breaking by simply performing scattering experiment in each waveguide channel at a single frequency and fixed strength of gain and loss.

8 pages, 6 figures