PT-symmetric optical potentials in a coherent atomic medium

TL;DR

This paper shows how a four-level atomic medium can be used to create reconfigurable PT-symmetric optical potentials, enabling new experiments in PT-related phenomena with controllable gain and loss.

Contribution

It introduces a method to realize and control PT-symmetric optical potentials in a coherently-prepared atomic medium, which is a novel approach.

Findings

Different PT-symmetric potentials can be realized by tuning optical fields.

The system allows for reconfigurable and controllable PT-symmetric potentials.

Potential to observe PT-related phenomena with high gain/loss contrast.

Abstract

We demonstrate that a coherently-prepared four-level atomic medium can provide a versatile platform for realizing parity-time (PT) symmetric optical potentials. Different types of PT-symmetric potentials are proposed by appropriately tuning the exciting optical fields and the pertinent atomic parameters. Such reconfigurable and controllable systems can open up new avenues in observing PT-related phenomena with appreciable gain/loss contrast in coherent atomic media.