Photonic analogue of Zitterbewegung in binary waveguide arrays

TL;DR

This paper proposes an optical analogue of Zitterbewegung using binary waveguide arrays, demonstrating observable trembling motion of light beams that mimics relativistic electron behavior.

Contribution

It introduces a novel optical system that simulates Zitterbewegung, enabling direct observation of relativistic quantum effects in photonic structures.

Findings

Observation of beam center oscillations resembling Zitterbewegung

Demonstration of optical analogue of relativistic electron dynamics

Potential for studying quantum relativistic phenomena in photonics

Abstract

An optical analogue of Zitterbewegung (ZB), i.e. of the trembling motion of Dirac electrons caused by the interference between positive and negative energy states, is proposed for spatial beam propagation in binary waveguide arrays. In this optical system ZB is simply observable as a quiver spatial oscillatory motion of the beam center of mass around its mean trajectory.