First experimental realization of the Dirac oscillator

TL;DR

This paper reports the first experimental microwave setup that simulates the one-dimensional Dirac oscillator using a chain of coupled dielectric disks, enabling exploration of relativistic quantum systems.

Contribution

It demonstrates a novel experimental realization of the Dirac oscillator through a microwave tight-binding system, bridging theoretical models and physical implementation.

Findings

Successfully measured the Dirac oscillator spectrum

Implemented both massless and massive Dirac oscillator models

Flexible setup allows simulation of other Dirac-type equations

Abstract

We present the first experimental microwave realization of the one-dimensional Dirac oscillator, a paradigm in exactly solvable relativistic systems. The experiment relies on a relation of the Dirac oscillator to a corresponding tight-binding system. This tight-binding system is implemented as a microwave system by a chain of coupled dielectric disks, where the coupling is evanescent and can be adjusted appropriately. The resonances of the finite microwave system yields the spectrum of the one-dimensional Dirac oscillator with and without mass term. The flexibility of the experimental set-up allows the implementation of other one-dimensional Dirac type equations.