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Measures of space-time nonseparability of electromagnetic pulses

Measures of space-time nonseparability of electromagnetic pulses
Measures of space-time nonseparability of electromagnetic pulses

Electromagnetic pulses are typically treated as space-time (or space-frequency) separable solutions of Maxwell's equations, where spatial and temporal (spectral) dependence can be treated separately. In contrast to this traditional viewpoint, recent advances in structured light and topological optics have highlighted the nontrivial wave-matter interactions of pulses with complex space-time nonseparable structure, as well as their potential for energy and information transfer. A characteristic example of such a pulse is the "flying doughnut"(FD), a space-time nonseparable few-cycle pulse with links to toroidal and nonradiating (anapole) excitations in matter. Here, we propose a quantum-mechanics-inspired methodology for quantitatively characterizing space-time nonseparability in structured pulses. In analogy to the mathematics of nonseparability in quantum mechanics, we introduce the concept of space-spectrum nonseparable states to describe the space-time nonseparability of a classical electromagnetic pulse and apply the state tomography method to reconstruct the corresponding density matrix. Using the example of the FD pulse, we calculate the fidelity, concurrence, and entanglement of formation as their quantitative measures, and we demonstrate that such properties dug out from quantum mechanics can quantitatively characterize the spatiotemporal evolution of general structured pulses. Our results highlight the potential of space-time nonseparable pulses as information carriers and facilitate their deployment in information transfer and cryptography applications.

2643-1564
Shen, Yijie
42410cf7-8adb-4de6-9175-a1332245c368
Zdagkas, Apostolos
af3bc86e-b049-4ea1-b7bb-44e2ee0a4441
Papasimakis, Nikitas
f416bfa9-544c-4a3e-8a2d-bc1c11133a51
Zheludev, Nikolay I.
32fb6af7-97e4-4d11-bca6-805745e40cc6
Shen, Yijie
42410cf7-8adb-4de6-9175-a1332245c368
Zdagkas, Apostolos
af3bc86e-b049-4ea1-b7bb-44e2ee0a4441
Papasimakis, Nikitas
f416bfa9-544c-4a3e-8a2d-bc1c11133a51
Zheludev, Nikolay I.
32fb6af7-97e4-4d11-bca6-805745e40cc6

Shen, Yijie, Zdagkas, Apostolos, Papasimakis, Nikitas and Zheludev, Nikolay I. (2021) Measures of space-time nonseparability of electromagnetic pulses. Physical Review Research, 3 (1), [013236]. (doi:10.1103/PhysRevResearch.3.013236).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Electromagnetic pulses are typically treated as space-time (or space-frequency) separable solutions of Maxwell's equations, where spatial and temporal (spectral) dependence can be treated separately. In contrast to this traditional viewpoint, recent advances in structured light and topological optics have highlighted the nontrivial wave-matter interactions of pulses with complex space-time nonseparable structure, as well as their potential for energy and information transfer. A characteristic example of such a pulse is the "flying doughnut"(FD), a space-time nonseparable few-cycle pulse with links to toroidal and nonradiating (anapole) excitations in matter. Here, we propose a quantum-mechanics-inspired methodology for quantitatively characterizing space-time nonseparability in structured pulses. In analogy to the mathematics of nonseparability in quantum mechanics, we introduce the concept of space-spectrum nonseparable states to describe the space-time nonseparability of a classical electromagnetic pulse and apply the state tomography method to reconstruct the corresponding density matrix. Using the example of the FD pulse, we calculate the fidelity, concurrence, and entanglement of formation as their quantitative measures, and we demonstrate that such properties dug out from quantum mechanics can quantitatively characterize the spatiotemporal evolution of general structured pulses. Our results highlight the potential of space-time nonseparable pulses as information carriers and facilitate their deployment in information transfer and cryptography applications.

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PhysRevResearch.3.013236 - Version of Record
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Accepted/In Press date: 21 January 2021
Published date: 12 March 2021

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 481640
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/481640
ISSN: 2643-1564
PURE UUID: 07272603-a343-4e45-a9c9-b322a65693f8
ORCID for Apostolos Zdagkas: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-1734-9722
ORCID for Nikitas Papasimakis: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-6347-6466
ORCID for Nikolay I. Zheludev: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-1013-6636

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Date deposited: 05 Sep 2023 16:48
Last modified: 06 Jun 2024 01:45

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Contributors

Author: Yijie Shen
Author: Apostolos Zdagkas ORCID iD
Author: Nikitas Papasimakis ORCID iD
Author: Nikolay I. Zheludev ORCID iD

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