We study the effects of time ordering in photon generation processes such as spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) and four wave mixing (SFWM). The results presented here are used to construct an intuitive picture that allows us to predict when time-ordering effects significantly modify the joint spectral amplitude (JSA) of the photons generated in SPDC and SFWM. These effects become important only when the photons being generated lie with the pump beam that travels through the nonlinear material for a significant amount of time. Thus sources of spectrally separable photons are ideal candidates for the observation of modifications of the JSA due to time ordering.

We study directed transport of charge and intrinsic angular momentum by periodically driven scattering in the regime of fast and strong driving. A spin-orbit coupling through a kicked magnetic field confined to a compact region in space leads to irregular scattering and triggers spin flips in a spatially asymmetric manner which allows us to generate polarized currents. The dynamical mechanisms responsible for the spin separation carry over to the quantum level and give rise to spin pumping. Our theory based on the Floquet formalism is confirmed by numerical solutions of the time-dependent inhomogeneous Schrödinger equation with a continuous source term.

We report on harmonic generation experiments and calculations in air to investigate the theoretical prediction of Kolesik et al. [Opt. Lett. 35, 2550 (2010)] for testing the recently proposed higher-order Kerr effect model. Our observations show that although the fifth-order nonlinearity is non-negligible, the overall defocusing effect via the higher-order nonlinearities is sufficiently small that plasma formation should be a main defocusing mechanism in high power filamentation. We also explore cross-phase modulation via the optical Kerr effect, and find that the higher-order nonlinearities can significantly alter the phase matching of harmonic generation.

Optical Kerr frequency combs are known to be effective coherent multiwavelength sources for ultrahigh capacity fiber communications. These combs are the frequency-domain counterparts of a wide variety of spatiotemporal dissipative structures, such as cavity solitons, chaos, or Turing patterns (rolls). In this Letter, we demonstrate that Turing patterns, which correspond to the so-called primary combs in the spectral domain, are optimally coherent in the sense that for the same pump power they provide the most robust carriers for coherent data transmission in fiber communications using advanced modulation formats. Our model is based on a stochastic Lugiato-Lefever equation which accounts for laser pump frequency jitter and amplified spontaneous emission noise induced by the erbium-doped fiber amplifier. Using crystalline whispering-gallery-mode resonators with quality factor $Q\sim {10}^9$ for the comb generation, we show that when the noise is accounted for, the coherence of a primary comb is significantly higher than the coherence of their solitonic or chaotic counterparts for the same pump power. In order to confirm this theoretical finding, we perform an optical fiber transmission experiment using advanced modulation formats, and we show that the coherence of the primary comb is high enough to enable data transmission of up to $144\mathrm{Gbit}/\mathrm{s}$ per comb line, the highest value achieved with a Kerr comb so far. This performance evidences that compact crystalline photonic systems have the potential to play a key role in a new generation of coherent fiber communication networks, alongside fully integrated systems.

We derive a generic model for the interaction of domain walls close to a nonequilibrium-Bloch transition. The universal scenario predicted by the model includes stationary Ising and Bloch localized structures (dissipative solitons), as well as drifting and oscillating Bloch structures. Our theory also explains the behavior of Bloch walls during a collision. The results are confirmed by numerical simulations of the Ginzburg-Landau equation forced at twice its natural frequency and are in agreement with previous observations in several physical systems.

Spatially extended systems, such as channel or pipe flows, are often equivariant under continuous symmetry transformations, with each state of the flow having an infinite number of equivalent solutions obtained from it by a translation or a rotation. This multitude of equivalent solutions tends to obscure the dynamics of turbulence. Here we describe the “first Fourier mode slice,” a very simple, easy to implement reduction of SO(2) symmetry. While the method exhibits rapid variations in phase velocity whenever the magnitude of the first Fourier mode is nearly vanishing, these near singularities can be regularized by a time-scaling transformation. We show that after application of the method, hitherto unseen global structures, for example, Kuramoto-Sivashinsky relative periodic orbits and unstable manifolds of traveling waves, are uncovered.

We experimentally demonstrate the possibility of tuning the frequency of a laser pulse via the use of an Airy pulse-seeded soliton self-frequency shift. The intrinsically asymmetric nature of Airy pulses, typically featured by either leading or trailing oscillatory tails (relatively to the main lobe), is revealed through the nonlinear generation of both a primary and a secondary Raman soliton self-frequency shift, a phenomenon which is driven by the soliton fission processes. The resulting frequency shift can be carefully controlled by using time-reversed Airy pulses or, alternatively, by applying an offset to the cubic phase modulation used to generate the pulses. When compared with the use of conventional chirped Gaussian pulses, our technique brings about unique advantages in terms of both efficient frequency tuning and feasibility, along with the generation and control of multicolor Raman solitons with enhanced tunability. Our theoretical analysis agrees well with our experimental observations.

In this Letter, the dynamics of a collapsing vapor bubble is addressed by means of a diffuse-interface formulation. The model cleanly captures, through a unified approach, all the critical features of the process, such as phase change, transition to supercritical conditions, thermal conduction, compressibility effects, and shock wave formation and propagation. Rather unexpectedly for pure vapor bubbles, the numerical experiments show that the process consists in the oscillation of the bubble associated with the emission of shock waves in the liquid, and with the periodic disappearance and reappearance of the liquid-vapor interface due to transition to super- or subcritical conditions. The results identify the mechanism of shock wave formation as strongly related to the transition of the vapor to the supercritical state, with a progressive steepening of a focused compression wave evolving into a shock which is eventually reflected as an outward propagating wave in the liquid.

We discover a transition from extended to localized quasimodes for light in a gas of immobile two-level atoms in a magnetic field. The transition takes place either upon increasing the number density of atoms in a strong field or upon increasing the field at a high enough density. It has many characteristic features of a disorder-driven (Anderson) transition but is strongly influenced by near-field interactions between atoms and the anisotropy of the atomic medium induced by the magnetic field.

We demonstrate in open microcavities with broken chiral symmetry that quasidegenerate pairs of copropagating-wave resonances are transformed by rotation to counterpropagating ones, leading to a striking change of emission directions. The rotation-induced relative change in output intensity increases exponentially with cavity size, in contrast to the linear scaling of the Sagnac effect. By tuning the degree of spatial chirality with cavity shape, we are able to maximize the emission sensitivity to rotation without spoiling the quality factor.

A cone-shaped meniscus of electrified fluids, often called a Taylor cone, is observed in rain drops and lightning and employed in various physical instruments and experimental techniques, but the way it evolves from a rounded shape to a cone is a long-standing puzzle. Earth’s gravity and microgravity measurements on the meniscus whose height is just shy of droplet ejection reveal that field-driven cusp evolution exhibits a universal self-similarity insensitive to the forcing field and scaled by the fluid surface tension and density. Our work paves the way for dynamic control of field-driven phenomena in fluids.

We describe generation of stable mode-locked pulse trains from on-chip normal dispersion microresonators. The excitation of hyperparametric oscillation is facilitated by the local dispersion disruptions induced by mode interactions. The system is then driven from hyperparametric oscillation to the mode-locked state with over 200 nm spectral width by controlled pump power and detuning. With the continuous-wave-driven nonlinearity, the pulses sit on a pedestal, akin to a cavity soliton. We identify the importance of pump detuning and wavelength-dependent quality factors in stabilizing and shaping the pulse structure, to achieve a single pulse inside the cavity. We examine the mode-locking dynamics by numerically solving the master equation and provide analytic solutions under appropriate approximations.

We introduce a paradigm for spatial and modal wave manipulation based on nonlinear phononic crystals and explore its potential for engineering wave control systems with tunable, adaptive, and multifunctional characteristics. Our approach exploits nonlinear mechanisms to stretch the frequency signature of the wave response and distribute it over multiple modes, thereby activating a mixture of modal characteristics and enabling functionalities associated with high-frequency optical modes, even while operating in the low-frequency regime. To elucidate the versatility of this approach, we consider different granular crystal configurations that span the available landscape of crystal topologies and wave control functionalities. The ability to switch between complementary functionalities allows rethinking nonlinear phononic crystals as programmable acoustic ports that form the building blocks of a new structural logic framework enabled by nonlinearity.

The origin of the microbranching instability is a long-standing unresolved issue in the fracture of brittle amorphous materials. We investigate the onset of this instability by measuring the real-time dynamics and symmetries of the strain fields produced by rapid tensile cracks in brittle gels. We find that once a simple tensile crack is subjected to shear perturbations, cracks undergo the microbranching instability above a finite velocity-dependent threshold. We further reveal a distinct relation between the microbranching and the oscillatory instabilities of rapid cracks.

We present a unified approach to the theory of multimodal laser cavities including a variable amount of structural disorder. A general mean-field theory is studied for waves in media with variable nonlinearity and randomness. Phase diagrams are reported in terms of optical power, degree of disorder, and degree of nonlinearity, tuning between closed and open cavity scenarios. In the thermodynamic limit of infinitely many modes, the theory predicts four distinct regimes: a continuous wave behavior for low power, a standard mode-locking laser regime for high power and weak disorder, a random laser for high pumped power and large disorder, and a novel intermediate regime of phase locking occurring in the presence of disorder but below the lasing threshold.

We show in microwave measurements and computer simulations that the contribution of each eigenchannel of the transmission matrix to the density of states (DOS) is the derivative with angular frequency of a composite phase shift. The accuracy of the measurement of the DOS determined from transmission eigenchannels is confirmed by the agreement with the DOS found from the decomposition of the field into modes. The distribution of the DOS, which underlies the Thouless number, is substantially broadened in the Anderson localization transition. We find a crossover from constant to exponential scaling of fluctuations of the DOS normalized by its average value. These results illuminate the relationships between scattering, stored energy, and dynamics in complex media.