arXiv subjects

Shukai Ma

Publications and source records attributed to Shukai Ma.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2023

Experimental Realization of Anti-Unitary Wave-Chaotic Photonic Topological Insulator Graphs Showing Kramers Degeneracy and Symplectic Ensemble Statistics

Working in analogy with topological insulators in condensed matter, photonic topological insulators (PTI) have been experimentally realized, and protected electromagnetic edge-modes have been demonstrated in such systems. Moreover, PTI technology also emulates a synthetic spin-1/2 degree of freedom (DOF) in the reflectionless topological modes. The spin-1/2 DOF is carried by Quantum Valley Hall (QVH) / Quantum Spin Hall (QSH) interface modes created from the bianisotropic meta waveguide (BMW) platform, and realized both in simulation and experiment. We employ the PTI setting to build an ensemble of wave chaotic 1D metric graphs that display statistical properties consistent with Gaussian Symplectic Ensemble (GSE) statistics. The two critical ingredients required to create a physical system in the GSE universality class, the half-integer-spin DOF and preserved time-reversal invariance, are clearly realized in the QVH/QSH interface modes. We identify the anti-unitary T-operator for the PTI Hamiltonian underlying our experimental realization. An ensemble of PTI-edgemode metric graphs are proposed and experimentally demonstrated. We then demonstrate the Kramers degeneracy of eigenmodes of the PTI-graph systems with both numerical and experimental studies. We further conduct spectral statistical studies of the edgemode graphs and find good agreement with the GSE theoretical predictions. The PTI chaotic graph structures present an innovative and easily extendable platform for continued future investigation of GSE systems.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2023

Time Domain Generalization of the Random Coupling Model and Experimental Verification in a Complex Scattering System

Electromagnetic (EM) wave scattering in electrically large, irregularly shaped, environments is a common phenomenon. The deterministic, or first principles, study of this process is usually computationally expensive and the results exhibit extreme sensitivity to scattering details. For this reason, the deterministic approach is often dropped in favor of a statistical one. The Random Coupling Model (RCM) is one such approach that has found great success in providing a statistical characterization for wave chaotic systems in the frequency domain. Here we aim to transform the RCM into the time domain and generalize it to new situations. The proposed time-domain RCM (TD-RCM) method can treat a wave chaotic system with multiple ports and modes. Two features are now possible with the time-domain approach for chaotic resonators: the incorporation of earlytime short-orbit transmission path effects between the ports, and the inclusion of arbitrary nonlinear or time-varying port load impedances. We have conducted short-pulse time-domain experiments in wave chaotic enclosures, and used the TD-RCM to simulate the corresponding experimental setup. We have also examined a diode-loaded port and compared experimental results with a numerical TD-RCM treatment and found agreement.

nlin.AO↗

arXiv2022

Eigenfunction and eigenmode-spacing statistics in chaotic photonic crystal graphs

The statistical properties of wave chaotic systems of varying dimensionalities and realizations have been studied extensively. These systems are commonly characterized by the statistics of the eigenmode-spacings and the statistics of the eigenfunctions. Here, we propose photonic crystal (PC) defect waveguide graphs as a new physical setting for chaotic graph studies. Photonic crystal waveguides possess a dispersion relation for the propagating modes which is engineerable. Graphs constructed by joining these waveguides possess junctions and bends with distinct scattering properties. We present numerically determined statistical properties of an ensemble of such PC-graphs including both eigenfunction amplitude and eigenmode-spacing studies. Our proposed system is compatible with silicon nanophotonic technology and opens chaotic graph studies to a new community of researchers.

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2022

Short-wavelength Reverberant Wave Systems for Physical Realization of Reservoir Computing

Machine learning (ML) has found widespread application over a broad range of important tasks. To enhance ML performance, researchers have investigated computational architectures whose physical implementations promise compactness, high-speed execution, physical robustness, and low energy cost. Here, we experimentally demonstrate an approach that uses the high sensitivity of reverberant short wavelength waves for physical realization and enhancement of computational power of a type of ML known as reservoir computing (RC). The potential computation power of RC systems increases with their effective size. We here exploit the intrinsic property of short wavelength reverberant wave sensitivity to perturbations to expand the effective size of the RC system by means of spatial and spectral perturbations. Working in the microwave regime, this scheme is tested experimentally on different ML tasks. Our results indicate the general applicability of reverberant wave-based implementations of RC and of our effective reservoir size expansion technique

eess.SP↗

arXiv2020

Microwave Applications of Photonic Topological Insulators

This Perspective examines the emerging applications of photonic topological insulators (PTIs) in the microwave domain. The introduction of topological protection of light has revolutionized the traditional perspective of wave propagation through the demonstration of backscatter-free waveguides in the presence of sharp bending and strong structural defects. The pseudospin degree of freedom of light enables the invention of unprecedented topological photonic devices with useful functionalities. Our aim is to present a brief introduction of recent developments in microwave PTI demonstrations. We give a clear comparison of different PTI realizations, summarize the key features giving rise to topological protection, and present a discussion of advantages and disadvantages of PTI technology compared to existing microwave device technology. We conclude with forward-looking perspectives of how the advantages of this technology can best be exploited.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2020

Efficient Statistical Model for Predicting Electromagnetic Wave Distribution in Coupled Enclosures

The Random Coupling Model (RCM) has been successfully applied to predicting the statistics of currents and voltages at ports in complex electromagnetic (EM) enclosures operating in the short wavelength limit. Recent studies have extended the RCM to systems of multi-mode aperture-coupled enclosures. However, as the size (as measured in wavelengths) of a coupling aperture grows, the coupling matrix used in the RCM increases as well, and the computation becomes more complex and time-consuming. A simple Power Balance Model (PWB) can provide fast predictions for the \textit{averaged} power density of waves inside electrically-large systems for a wide range of cavity and coupling scenarios. However, the important interference induced fluctuations of the wavefield retained in the RCM is absent in PWB. Here we aim to combine the best aspects of each model to create a hybrid treatment and study the EM fields in coupled enclosure systems. The proposed hybrid approach provides both mean and fluctuation information of the EM fields without the full computational complexity of coupled-cavity RCM. We compare the hybrid model predictions with experiments on linear cascades of over-moded cavities. We find good agreement over a set of different loss parameters and for different coupling strengths between cavities. The range of validity and applicability of the hybrid method are tested and discussed.

physics.class-ph↗

arXiv2019

Wave scattering properties of multiple weakly-coupled complex systems

The statistics of scattering of waves inside single ray-chaotic enclosures have been successfully described by the Random Coupling Model (RCM). We expand the RCM to systems consisting of multiple complex ray-chaotic enclosures with variable coupling scenarios. The statistical properties of the model-generated quantities are tested against measured data of electrically large multi-cavity systems of various designs. The statistics of model-generated trans-impedance and induced voltages on a load impedance agree well with the experimental results. The RCM coupled chaotic enclosure model is general and can be applied to other physical systems including coupled quantum dots, disordered nanowires, and short-wavelength electromagnetic propagation through rooms in buildings, aircraft and ships.

physics.class-ph↗

arXiv2019

Topologically Protected Photonic Modes in Composite Quantum Hall/Quantum Spin Hall Waveguides

Photonic topological systems, the electromagnetic analog of the topological materials in condensed matter physics, create many opportunities to design optical devices with novel properties. We present an experimental realization of the bi-anisotropic meta waveguide photonic system replicating both quantum Hall (QH) and quantum spin-Hall (QSH) topological insulating phases. With careful design, a composite QH-QSH photonic topological material is created and experimentally shown to support reflection-free edgemodes, a heterogeneous topological structure that is unprecedented in condensed matter physics. The effective spin degree of freedom of such topologically protected modes determines their unique pathways through these systems, free from backscattering and able to travel around sharp corners. {As an example of their novel properties, we experimentally demonstrate reflection-less photonic devices including a 2-port isolator, a unique 3-port topological device, and a full 4-port circulator based on composite QH and QSH structures

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

Classification and prediction of wave chaotic systems with machine learning techniques

The wave properties of complex scattering systems that are large compared to the wavelength, and show chaos in the classical limit, are extremely sensitive to system details. A solution to the wave equation for a specific configuration can change substantially under small perturbations. Due to this extreme sensitivity, it is difficult to discern basic information about a complex system simply from scattering data as a function of energy or frequency, at least by eye. In this work, we employ supervised machine learning algorithms to reveal and classify hidden information about the complex scattering system presented in the data. As an example we are able to distinguish the total number of connected cavities in a linear chain of weakly coupled lossy enclosures from measured reflection data. A predictive machine learning algorithm for the future states of a perturbed complex scattering system is also trained with a recurrent neural network. Given a finite training data series, the reflection/transmission properties can be forecast by the proposed algorithm.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗