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Momentum-robust temporal scattering via PT-symmetry transition

Meng-Cheng Jin1,2,*, Guang-Chen He3,*, Ze-Guo Chen3,†, Ming-Hui Lu1,2,4,5,‡, Peng Zhan2, and Yan-Feng Chen1,4

  • 1National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
  • 2School of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
  • 3School of Materials Science and Intelligent Engineering, Nanjing University, Suzhou 215163, China
  • 4Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Artificial Functional Materials, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
  • 5Jiangsu Physical Science Research Center, Nanjing 210093, China

  • *These authors contributed equally to this work.
  • †Contact author: zeguoc@nju.edu.cn
  • ‡Contact author: luminghui@nju.edu.cn

Phys. Rev. B 112, 184313 – Published 21 November, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/grkw-3cjj

Abstract

Temporal interfaces enable dynamic wave control but face a fundamental bottleneck: temporal reflection and refraction amplitudes depend on incident momentum because the projection coefficients between pre and postquench eigenstates—defined by biorthogonal overlaps in the non-Hermitian case—are generically momentum dependent, which distorts broadband wave packets. We develop a projection-operator framework for temporal scattering and show that when a PT-symmetry phase transition occurs across the interface, the final eigenbasis satisfies a phase-transition-induced orthogonality condition, which renders the overlap magnitudes momentum independent and thus yields broadband-stable temporal splitting. Experiments in an electrically reconfigurable acoustic-cavity lattice confirm momentum-robust scattering over a finite bandwidth, and our analysis further reveals nonorthogonality-induced amplification/attenuation and a null-excitation criterion for stable temporal boundary states. These results position geometric projection as a unifying mechanism for non-Hermitian temporal physics and a practical route to versatile time-domain devices.

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