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  • Open Access

Programmable All-Optical Spin Simulator with Artificial Gauge Fields

Simon Mahler*,‡, Eran Bernstein†,‡, Sagie Gadasi, Geva Arwas, Asher A. Friesem, and Nir Davidson

  • *Contact author: sim.mahler@gmail.com
  • †Contact author: eran.bernstein@gmail.com
  • ‡These authors contributed equally to this work.
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 083804 – Published 22 August, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/chxf-fq9v

Abstract

The coupling of lasers plays an important role in a variety of research activities, from generating high-power lasers to investigating out-of-equilibrium coupled systems. This Letter presents our investigations of Hermitian coupling in arrays of lasers, where it is possible to control both the amplitude and phase of the coupling and generate artificial gauge fields. The Hermitian coupling is demonstrated in three laser array geometries: a square array of 100 lasers with controlled laser coupling for obtaining continuous control over the phase-locked state, a triangular array of 130 lasers with controlled chirality of the lasers, and a ring array of eight lasers with a controlled topological charge. In the square array, we implemented arbitrary laser coupling with a precision of 2π/120 radians, enabling the attainment of arbitrary phase-locking states. In the triangular array, we controlled the chirality of the lasers with 99% purity. In the ring array, the introduction of an artificial gauge field revealed discrete quantized first-order transitions between distinct topological phase-locking states. The results pave the way for exploring spin systems with programmable coupling in an all-optical spin simulator.

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 083804– Published 22 August, 2025
  • Received 28 August 2024
  • Revised 11 May 2025
  • Accepted 21 July 2025
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