IEM Seminar Series: Quantized nonlinear optical Thouless pumping
Event details
| Date | 11.12.2025 |
| Hour | 12:15 › 13:00 |
| Speaker | Professor Mikael Rechtsman, Penn State University, USA |
| Location | |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
| Event Language | English |
Abstract
I will present my group’s experimental work on the fractional pumping of solitons in nonlinear photonic Thouless pumps, using waveguide arrays. Specifically, I will show that the displacement (in unit cells) of solitons in Thouless pumps is strictly quantized to the Chern number of the band from which the soliton bifurcates in the low power regime; whereas in the intermediate power regime, nonlinear bifurcations lead to fractional quantization of soliton motion. Time permitting, I will show how under disordered conditions, the use of nonlinearity dramatically improves transport by enforcing quantization.
Bio
Mikael Rechtsman is a professor of physics at Penn State University, specializing in photonics and nonlinear optics. His best-known work demonstrated the topological protection of light in an optical waveguide array. He is the recipient of the Packard and Sloan fellowships, the ICO Prize, and the ONR young investigator award.
I will present my group’s experimental work on the fractional pumping of solitons in nonlinear photonic Thouless pumps, using waveguide arrays. Specifically, I will show that the displacement (in unit cells) of solitons in Thouless pumps is strictly quantized to the Chern number of the band from which the soliton bifurcates in the low power regime; whereas in the intermediate power regime, nonlinear bifurcations lead to fractional quantization of soliton motion. Time permitting, I will show how under disordered conditions, the use of nonlinearity dramatically improves transport by enforcing quantization.
Bio
Mikael Rechtsman is a professor of physics at Penn State University, specializing in photonics and nonlinear optics. His best-known work demonstrated the topological protection of light in an optical waveguide array. He is the recipient of the Packard and Sloan fellowships, the ICO Prize, and the ONR young investigator award.
Practical information
- General public
- Free
Organizer
- Laboratory of Wave Engineering LWE
Contact
- Romain Fleury