In this Research Letter it is shown how certain optical wave amplification phenomena, which do not obey standard phase-matching conditions and are generally classified as non-Hermitian phase matching or gain-through-loss(-filtering) processes, can be considered as particular cases of the more general phenomenon of converse symmetry breaking predicted and observed in various networks of coupled oscillators. It is shown that the abovementioned optical amplification processes are possible thanks to a phase-locking dynamics enabled by asymmetry or heterogeneity in the coupled-modes equations.

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• Nonlinear optics
• Synchronization
• Collective dynamics
• Nonlinear waves
• Optical fibers