Extreme defect sensitivity from large synthetic dimensionality
Lukas J. Maczewsky, Kai Wang, Alexander A. Dovgiy, Andrey E. Miroshnichenko, Alexander Moroz, Max Ehrhardt, Matthias Heinrich, Demetrios N. Christodoulides, Alexander Szameit, Andrey A. Sukhorukov · arXiv (Cornell University) · 2019
The excitation dynamics in complex networks1 can describe the fundamental aspects of transport and localization across multiple fields of science, ranging from solid-state physics and photonics to biological signalling pathways and neuromorphic circuits2,3,4,5. Although the effects of increasing network dimensionality are highly non-trivial, their implementation likewise becomes ever more challenging due to the exponentially growing numbers of sites and connections6,7,8. To address these challenges, we formulate a universal approach for mapping arbitrary networks to synthesized one-dimensional lattices with strictly local inhomogeneous couplings, where the dynamics at the excited site is exactly replicated. We present direct experimental observations in judiciously designed planar photonic structures, showcasing non-monotonic excitation decays associated with up to seven-dimensional hypercubic lattices, and demonstrate a novel sharp localization transition specific to four and higher dimensions. The unprecedented capability of experimentally exploring multi-dimensional dynamics and harnessing their unique features in one-dimensional lattices can find multiple applications in diverse physical systems, including photonic integrated circuits.