Negative index of refraction, spacetime folding and perfect imaging in transformation optics

TL;DR

This paper clarifies that negative index of refraction in transformation optics is a sign choice rather than an inherent feature, and it challenges the idea that perfect imaging relies on evanescent mode amplification, proposing a different perspective on lens design.

Contribution

The paper demonstrates that negative index of refraction is a sign ambiguity in transformation optics and shows that perfect imaging does not require evanescent mode amplification.

Findings

Negative index of refraction is a sign choice, not an inherent property.

Transformation optics lenses do not amplify evanescent modes.

Perfect imaging can be achieved without evanescent mode amplification.

Abstract

Negative index of refraction has become an accepted part of transformation optics, which is encountered in transformations that change the orientation of the manifold. Based on this concept, various designs of perfect lenses have been proposed, which all rely on a folding of space or spacetime, where the maps from electromagnetic space to laboratory space are multi-valued. Recently, a new concept for perfect imaging has been proposed by Leonhardt and Philbin, which also uses multi-valued maps, but does neither include negative index of refraction nor an amplification of evanescent modes. In this context it was speculated that multi-valued maps should be seen as the basis of perfect imaging rather than amplification of evanescent modes. It might be useful to review the standard lens based on negative index of refraction from this point of view. In this paper we show that a negative index of refraction is not an inherent characteristic of transformation optics, but rather appears as a specific choice of a sign ambiguity. Furthermore, we point out that the transformation designed lens does not amplify evanescent modes, in contrast to the Pendry-Veselago lens. Instead, evanescent modes at the image point are produced by a duplicated source and thus no imaging of the near field takes place.