PT-symmetric wave Chaos

Phys Rev Lett. 2010 Feb 5;104(5):054102. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.054102. Epub 2010 Feb 5.

Abstract

We study a new class of chaotic systems with dynamical localization, where gain or loss mechanisms break the Hermiticity, while allowing for parity-time (PT) symmetry. For a value gamma{PT} of the gain or loss parameter the spectrum undergoes a spontaneous phase transition from real (exact phase) to complex values (broken phase). We develop a one parameter scaling theory for gamma{PT}, and show that chaos assists the exact PT phase. Our results have applications to the design of optical elements with PT symmetry.