Coherent perfect absorption of nonlinear matter waves.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 30105306.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/sciadv.aat6539 and PMC identifier 6086614.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Coherent perfect absorption is the complete extinction of incoming radiation by a complex potential in a physical system supporting wave propagation. The concept was proven for linear waves in a variety of systems including light interacting with absorbing scatterers, plasmonic metasurfaces, and graphene films, as well as sound waves. We extend the paradigm to coherent perfect absorption of nonlinear waves and experimentally demonstrate it for matter waves in an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate. Coherent absorption of nonlinear matter waves is achieved easier than its linear analogs because the strength of two-body interactions offers additional freedom for control. Implementation of the coherent perfect absorber of Bose-Einstein condensates paves the way toward broad exploitation of the phenomenon in nonlinear optics, exciton-polariton condensates, acoustics, and other areas of nonlinear physics. It also opens perspectives for designing atom lasers.