The disconnection of an underwater bubble illustrates how slight initial asymmetries can prevent the formation of a finite-time singularity. Creating a singularity by focusing a finite amount of energy dynamically into a vanishingly small amount of material requires that the initial condition be perfectly symmetric. In reality, imperfections are always present. We show a slight azimuthal asymmetry in the initial shape of the bubble neck excites vibrations that persist over time. As a result, the focusing singularity is generically preempted by a smooth contact.

We report on the generation of three-dimensional discrete $X$ waves in a femtosecond laser-written waveguide array. Our measurements constitute the first experimental observation of temporally localized three-dimensional discrete-continuous entities. The $X$ waves spontaneously emerge from a single-site excitation due to the discrete diffraction of the lattice and the normally dispersive as well as cubically nonlinear properties of the fused silica used as host material.

We investigate the collective motion of a two-dimensional disordered ensemble of droplets in a microfluidic channel far from equilibrium and at Reynolds number $\sim {10}^{-4}$. The ensemble carries ultraslow shock waves and sound, propagating at $\sim 100\mu \mathrm{m}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$ and superposed on diffusive droplets motion. These modes are induced by long-range hydrodynamic dipolar interactions between droplets, the result of the symmetry breaking flow. The modes obey the Burgers equation due to a local coupling between droplets velocity and number density. This stems from a singular effect of the channel sidewall boundaries upon summation of the hydrodynamic interaction in two dimensions.

The passage of a free-electron beam through a nanohole in a periodically layered metal-dielectric structure creates a new type of tunable, nanoscale radiation source—a “light well”. In the reported demonstration, tunable light is generated at an intensity of $\sim 200\mathrm{W}/{\mathrm{cm}}^2$ as electrons with energies in the 20–40 keV range are injected into gold-silica well structures with a lateral size of just a few hundred nanometers.

Typically, low-order nonlinearities are much stronger than high-order nonlinearities. In this Letter, we demonstrate a procedure by which strong high-order nonlinearities can be synthesized out of low-order nonlinearities. Our procedure involves the use of the previously largely overlooked process of microscopic cascading, which results from local-field effects. We have performed an experiment that allows us to distinguish the influence of microscopic cascading from the more-well-known process of macroscopic cascading, and we find conditions under which microscopic cascading can be the dominant effect. The ability to create a large high-order nonlinear response could prove useful for applications in quantum-information science that require the detection of the simultaneous presence of $N$ entangled photons.

Sound generation and interaction are highly complex, nonlinear, and self-organized. Nearly 150 years ago Rayleigh raised the following problem: two nearby organ pipes of different fundamental frequencies sound together almost inaudibly with identical pitch. This effect is now understood qualitatively by modern synchronization theory M. Abel et al. [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 119, 2467 (2006)]. For a detailed investigation, we substituted one pipe by an electric speaker. We observe that even minute driving signals force the pipe to synchronization, thus yielding three decades of synchronization—the largest range ever measured to our knowledge. Furthermore, a mutual silencing of the pipe is found, which can be explained by self-organized oscillations, of use for novel methods of noise abatement. Finally, we develop a reconstruction method which yields a perfect quantitative match of experiment and theory.

Entrainment in wetting and dewetting flows often occurs through the formation of a corner with a very sharp tip. This corner singularity comes on top of the divergence of viscous stress near the contact line, which is only regularized at molecular scales. We investigate the fine structure of corners appearing at the rear of sliding drops. Experiments reveal a sudden decrease of tip radius, down to $20\mu \mathrm{m}$, before entrainment occurs. We propose a lubrication model for this phenomenon, which compares well to experiments. Despite the disparity of length scales, it turns out that the tip size is set by the classical viscous singularity, for which we deduce a nanometric length from our macroscopic measurements.

We discovered that when circularly polarized light is obliquely incident on a two-dimensional metallic photonic crystal slab, electrical voltage is induced perpendicular to the incident plane. The sign of the signal is reversed by changing the sense of polarization or incident angle. The origin of this transverse photoinduced voltage is explained in terms of the force proportional to the light intensity induced by the asymmetry, which is brought about by the angular momentum of the incident light, along with the modification of local near-surface electromagnetic fields in the slab and field enhancement due to surface plasmon resonance.

Bianisotropic properties of the metamaterial built from split-ring resonators are utilized to excite electron-spin resonance in a gadolinium gallium garnet by the electric field of light. Surprisingly, the observed electron-spin resonance signal is seen as a maximum in the field-dependent transmittance, which indicates strong modifications of the metamaterial parameters in the coupled regime. In the geometry where both modes, electron-spin resonance and split-ring resonance, are active, the anticrossing regime can be observed. These effects can be explained using the classical model of two coupled oscillators and the bianisotropic properties of split-ring resonators.

We study the properties of 2D cavity solitons in a coherently driven optical resonator subjected to a delayed feedback. The delay is found to induce a spontaneous motion of a single cavity soliton that is stationary and stable otherwise. This behavior occurs when the product of the delay time and the feedback strength exceeds some critical value. We derive an analytical formula for the speed of a moving soliton. Numerical results are in good agreement with analytical predictions.

Electromagnetic cloaks are devices that make objects undetectable for probing with electromagnetic waves. The known realizations of transformational-optics cloaks require materials with exotic electromagnetic properties and offer only limited performance in narrow frequency bands. Here, we demonstrate a wideband and low-loss cloak whose operation is not based on the use of exotic electromagnetic materials, which are inevitably dispersive and lossy. Instead, we use a simple structure made of metal layers. In this Letter, we present an experimental demonstration of cloaking for microwaves and simulation results for cloaking in the visible range.

The mass flow conductance of single nanoholes with a diameter ranging from 75 to 100 nm was measured using mass spectrometry. For all nanoholes, a smooth crossover is observed between single-particle statistical flow (effusion) and the collective viscous flow emanating from the formation of a continuum. This crossover is shown to occur when the gas mean free path matches the size of the nanohole diameter. As a consequence of the pinhole geometry, the breakdown of the Poiseuille approximation is observed in the power-law temperature exponent of the measured conductance.

It is shown, both theoretically and experimentally, that in normally dispersive media under tight-focusing conditions third harmonic is generated by six-wave mixing rather than via common third-order frequency tripling. Though far-field pattern of third-harmonic signal was an axially symmetric ring for a wide range of the material wave vector mismatch and laser beam focusing conditions, in some cases the generation of more complex beams has been found possible. Results of simulations of the proposed model qualitatively correspond well with experimental data for the calculated values of third- and fifth-order nonlinear susceptibilities of sodium.

Photonic binding between two identical silicon-colloid-based microcavities is studied by using a generalized multipolar expansion. In contrast with previous works, we focus on low-order cavity modes that resemble low-energy electronic orbitals. For conservative light intensities, the interaction between cavity modes with moderate $Q$ factors produces extremely large particle acceleration values. Optical forces dominate over van der Waals, gravity, and Brownian motion, and they show a binding-antibinding behavior in analogy to electronic binding. As these photonic forces are associated with relatively broad Mie mode resonances and they are not strongly influenced by sample absorption, our study opens a plausible avenue towards manipulation of high-refractive-index colloidal assemblies.

We report on the generation of mono- and polychromatic optical phase singularities from micron-sized birefringent droplets. This is done experimentally by using liquid crystal droplets whose three dimensional architecture of the optical axis is controlled within the bulk by surfactant agents. Because of its microscopic size these optical vortex generators are optically trapped and manipulated at will, thus realizing a robust self-aligned micro-optical device for orbital angular momentum conversion. Experimental observations are supported by a simple model of optical spin-orbit coupling in uniaxial dielectrics that emphasizes the prominent role of the transverse optical anisotropy with respect to the beam propagation direction.

We numerically demonstrate a simple one-dimensional model of an acoustic diode formed by coupling a superlattice with a strongly nonlinear medium. The first numerical observation is presented of a significant rectifying effect on the acoustic energy flux within particular ranges of frequencies. By studying the underlying rectifying mechanism and the parameter dependence of the rectifying efficiency, the effectiveness of the acoustic diode is proved despite its simplicity. We also briefly discuss possible schemes of the experimental realization of this model as well as devising more efficient models.

It is widely thought that in steady, gravity-driven, unobstructed soap-film flows, the velocity increases monotonically downstream. Here we show experimentally that the velocity increases, peaks, drops abruptly, then lessens gradually downstream. We argue theoretically and verify experimentally that the abrupt drop in velocity corresponds to a Marangoni shock, a type of shock related to the elasticity of the film. Marangoni shocks induce locally intense turbulent fluctuations and may help elucidate the mechanisms that produce two-dimensional turbulence away from boundaries.

We show why the amount of information communicated between the past and future—the excess entropy—is not in general the amount of information stored in the present—the statistical complexity. This is a puzzle, and a long-standing one, since the former describes observed behavior, while optimal prediction requires the latter. We present a closed-form expression for the excess entropy in terms of optimal causal predictors and retrodictors—both $ϵ$ machines of computational mechanics. This leads us to two new system invariants: causal irreversibility—the asymmetry between the causal representations—and crypticity—the degree to which a process hides its state information.

In 1998, Bender and Boettcher found that a wide class of Hamiltonians, even though non-Hermitian, can still exhibit entirely real spectra provided that they obey parity-time requirements or $\mathcal{P}\mathcal{T}$ symmetry. Here we demonstrate experimentally passive $\mathcal{P}\mathcal{T}$-symmetry breaking within the realm of optics. This phase transition leads to a loss induced optical transparency in specially designed pseudo-Hermitian guiding potentials.

Sharing topology with numerous organic molecules, a wire helix bend into a torus gives a curious object with a gyrotropic behavior which is far from obvious. While a continuous constant current in opposite sections of the torus would create mutually cancelling contributions to its gyrotropic response, an array of tori can show strong circular dichroism linked to the excitation of standing current waves. Here we present the experimental study of optical activity in a chiral toroidal metamaterial and discuss its response in terms of multipole moments, including the elusive toroidal moment.