Experimentally-realizable \mathcal{PT} phase transitions in reflectionless quantum scattering

DOI10.1103/PHYSREVLETT.130.250404arXiv2209.05426MaRDI QIDQ6410474FDOQ6410474

Authors: Micheline B. Soley, Carl M. Bender, A. Douglas Stone 

Publication date: 12 September 2022

Abstract: A class of above-barrier quantum-scattering problems is shown to provide an experimentally-accessible platform for studying $mathcalPT$-symmetric Schr"odinger equations that exhibit spontaneous $mathcalPT$ symmetry breaking despite having purely real potentials. These potentials are one-dimensional, inverted, and unstable and have the form $V(x)=-lvertxver{t}^p$ ($p>0$), terminated at a finite length or energy to a constant value as $xopminfty$. The signature of unbroken $mathcalPT$ symmetry is the existence of reflectionless propagating states at discrete real energies up to arbitrarily high energy. In the $mathcalPT$-broken phase, there are no such solutions. In addition, there exists an intermediate mixed phase, where reflectionless states exist at low energy but disappear at a fixed finite energy, independent of termination length. In the mixed phase exceptional points (EPs) occur at specific $p$ and energy values, with a quartic dip in the reflectivity in contrast to the quadratic behavior away from EPs. $mathcalPT$-symmetry-breaking phenomena have not been previously predicted in a quantum system with a real potential and no reservoir coupling. The effects predicted here are measurable in standard cold-atom experiments with programmable optical traps. The physical origin of the symmetry-breaking transition is elucidated using a WKB force analysis that identifies the spatial location of the above-barrier scattering.

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