Eigenvalue bifurcation in doubly nonlinear problems with an application to surface plasmon polaritons (Q2226198)

The authors consider a class of non-self-adjoint eigenvalue problems which are nonlinear in the solution as well as in the eigenvalue parameter. Such problems appear in the context of the propagation of electromagnetic waves in dispersive media, in particular, in structures that include a metal. Interfaces of two different media (the dielectric system and the metal) can support localized waves called a surface plasmon polariton. The non-self-adjoint nature of the nonlinear eigenvalue problem is due to the presence of the gain and damping in the dielectric system. The authors prove a bifurcation result from simple isolated eigenvalues of the linear problem using a Lyapunov-Schmidt reduction and provide an expansion of both the nonlinear eigenvalue and the solution. They further prove that if the linear eigenvalue is real and the nonlinear problem is PT-symmetric (symmetric with respect to the parity and time reversal transformations), then the bifurcating nonlinear eigenvalue remains real near the bifurcation point. The general results are applied to the existence of surface plasmon polaritons. The authors obtain the existence of transverse electric surface plasmon polaritons in certain PT-symmetric configurations of the dielectric system.