Experimental study of active<i>LRC</i>circuits with<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mi mathvariant="script">PT</mml:mi></mml:math>symmetries
Joseph SchindlerDepartment of Physics, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut 06459, USAAng LiDepartment of Physics, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut 06459, USAMei C. ZhengDepartment of Physics, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut 06459, USAF. M. EllisDepartment of Physics, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut 06459, USATsampikos KottosDepartment of Physics, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut 06459, USA
2011en
ABI
Abstract
Mutually coupled modes of a pair of active LRC circuits, one with amplification and another with an equivalent amount of attenuation, provide an experimental realization of a wide class of systems where gain and loss mechanisms break the Hermiticity while preserving parity-time $\mathcal{PT}$ symmetry. For a value ${\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{\mathcal{PT}}$ of the gain and loss strength parameter the eigenfrequencies undergo a spontaneous phase transition from real to complex values, while the normal modes coalesce, acquiring a definite chirality. The consequences of the phase transition in the spatiotemporal energy evolution are also presented.
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