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Nonlinear dynamics of one-dimensional bright solitonlike state in polariton condensates induced by a PT-symmetric periodic potential

Ming Chen1,*, Muhammad Idrees2,*, Kun Zhang1, Zheng Sun3, Hui-jun Li1,†, and Alexey Kavokin4,5,6

  • *These authors contributed equally to this work.
  • †Contact author: hjli@zjnu.cn
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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 023133 – Published 8 May, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/fsp4-cwh6

Abstract

We investigate the dynamics of one-dimensional bright solitonlike state in exciton-polariton condensates under a parity-time (PT) symmetric periodic potential. For the static potential case, we demonstrate the formation of stable gap solitonlike state arising from the combined action of the potential and a composite Gaussian pump. Notably, these gap solitonlike state differ from those in the conventional nonlinear Schrödinger equation in two key ways. First, their existence and stability depend not only on the balance between nonlinearity and dispersion but also critically on the system's gain-loss balance. Second, their profiles (e.g., main-peak amplitude) can be directly controlled by the intensity of the composite Gaussian pump. Furthermore, when the PT-symmetric potential is designed to include a barrier with exponentially varying intensity, we observe that a stable incident bright solitonlike state exhibits controllable switching dynamics, in stark contrast to the unidirectional transmission seen in conservative systems. During this process, the bright solitonlike state transforms into a polariton wave, temporarily disappears, and subsequently re-emerges. This behavior is governed by the interaction between the PT-symmetric barrier and the intrinsic gain-loss mechanism of the system. Additionally, we propose an active control scheme based on nonresonant optical Gaussian pump pulses to precisely manipulate the disappearance time of the bright solitonlike state. Our findings establish a promising platform for soliton-based photonic devices in nonequilibrium systems.

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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 023133– Published 8 May, 2026
  • Received 10 December 2025
  • Accepted 13 April 2026
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