Optical Feedback Loop in Paraxial Fluids of Light: A Gate to new phenomena in analogue physical simulations

TL;DR

This paper introduces an optical feedback loop in paraxial fluids of light, enabling the simulation of complex quantum-like phenomena by overcoming length limitations through wavefront shaping and state re-injection.

Contribution

The authors propose a novel experimental method using an optical feedback loop to extend the accessible phenomena in paraxial fluids of light.

Findings

Demonstrated the feasibility of the feedback loop approach

Accessed new dynamics in optical fluids of light

Paved the way for observing novel phenomena in analogue systems

Abstract

Easily accessible through tabletop experiments based on laser propagation inside nonlinear optical media, Paraxial Fluids of Light are emerging as promising platforms for the simulation and exploration of quantum-like phenomena. In particular, the analogy builds on a formal equivalence between the governing model for a Bose-Einstein Condensate under the mean-field approximation and the model of laser propagation under the paraxial approximation. Yet, the fact that the role of time is played by the propagation distance in the optical analogue system may impose strong bounds on the range of accessible phenomena due to the limited length of the nonlinear medium. In this manuscript, we present a novel experimental approach to solve this limitation in the form of an optical feedback loop, which consists of the reconstruction of the optical states at the end of the system followed by their subsequent re-injection exploiting wavefront shaping techniques. The results enclosed demonstrate the potential of this approach to access unprecedented dynamics, paving for the observation of novel phenomena in these systems.