Advances in Synthetic Gauge Fields for Light Through Dynamic Modulation

TL;DR

This paper reviews how dynamic modulation creates synthetic gauge fields for light, enabling topological photonics and quantum effects by breaking reciprocity and time-reversal symmetry.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of dynamic modulation techniques for generating synthetic gauge fields and discusses recent advances in topological photonics in higher dimensions.

Findings

Dynamic modulation breaks reciprocity to generate gauge fields.

Synthetic gauge fields enable topological properties in photonics.

Recent developments explore higher-dimensional topological photonics.

Abstract

Photons are weak particles that do not directly couple to magnetic fields. However, it is possible to generate a photonic gauge field by breaking reciprocity such that the phase of light depends on its direction of propagation. This non-reciprocal phase indicates the presence of an effective magnetic field for the light itself. By suitable tailoring of this phase it is possible to demonstrate quantum effects typically associated with electrons, and as has been recently shown, non-trivial topological properties of light. This paper reviews dynamic modulation as a process for breaking the time-reversal symmetry of light and generating a synthetic gauge field, and discusses its role in topological photonics, as well as recent developments in exploring topological photonics in higher dimensions.