One- and two-dimensional modes in the complex Ginzburg-Landau equation with a trapping potential

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new stabilization mechanism for confined modes in exciton-polariton condensates using a trapping potential and diffusion, revealing diverse stable modes through systematic numerical analysis.

Contribution

It presents a novel stabilization method combining a harmonic trap and diffusion, and provides analytical and numerical analysis of stable modes in 1D and 2D complex Ginzburg-Landau equations.

Findings

Stable stationary modes, breathers, and patterns identified in 1D and 2D.

Existence boundaries for modes derived analytically.

Diverse vortex structures and turbulence observed in 2D.

Abstract

We propose a new mechanism for stabilization of confined modes in lasers and semiconductor microcavities holding exciton-polariton condensates, with spatially uniform linear gain, cubic loss, and cubic self-focusing or defocusing nonlinearity. We demonstrated that the commonly known background instability driven by the linear gain can be suppressed by a combination of a harmonic-oscillator trapping potential and effective diffusion. Systematic numerical analysis of one- and two-dimensional (1D and 2D) versions of the model reveals a variety of stable modes, including stationary ones, breathers, and quasi-regular patterns filling the trapping area in the 1D case. In 2D, the analysis produces stationary modes, breathers, axisymmetric and rotating crescent-shaped vortices, stably rotating complexes built of up to $8$ individual vortices, and, in addition, patterns featuring vortex turbulence. Existence boundaries for both 1D and 2D stationary modes are found in an exact analytical form, and an analytical approximation is developed for the full stationary states.