Instantons and Rarefaction Pulses as Pathways to Global Phase Coherence in Gain-Based Optical Networks

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Hauptverfasser: Wang, Richard Zhipeng, Berloff, Natalia G.
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2025
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author Wang, Richard Zhipeng
Berloff, Natalia G.
author_facet Wang, Richard Zhipeng
Berloff, Natalia G.
contents We investigate how to reliably remove unwanted global phase windings in gain-based optical oscillator networks, thereby ensuring convergence to the true synchronized configuration corresponding to the XY Hamiltonian's global minimum. Focusing on one-dimensional rings and two-dimensional toroidal lattices, we show that two key strategies greatly enhance the probability of reaching the defect-free state. First, operating at a low effective injection rate just above threshold, exploits the amplitude degree of freedom, allowing the system to form transient zero-amplitude holes: instantons in one dimension, or vortex-antivortex rarefaction pulses in two-dimensional space, that enable phase slips. Second, preparing the initial condition with amplitude or phase inhomogeneities can directly seed these amplitude collapses and prevent the system from getting trapped in higher-energy states with nonzero winding. Using the Stuart--Landau and Ginzburg--Landau equations as models for fast-reservoir lasers, we derive analytic and numerical evidence that even relatively minor amplitude dips can trigger global unwinding in 1D. We further demonstrate that the pump's slow annealing favours these amplitude-driven events, leading to improved success in finding the globally coherent ground state. These findings highlight the critical role of amplitude freedom in analogue solvers for XY optimization problems, showing how local amplitude suppression provides a direct route to ejecting topological defects.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_04031
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Instantons and Rarefaction Pulses as Pathways to Global Phase Coherence in Gain-Based Optical Networks
Wang, Richard Zhipeng
Berloff, Natalia G.
Optics
Pattern Formation and Solitons
Applied Physics
We investigate how to reliably remove unwanted global phase windings in gain-based optical oscillator networks, thereby ensuring convergence to the true synchronized configuration corresponding to the XY Hamiltonian's global minimum. Focusing on one-dimensional rings and two-dimensional toroidal lattices, we show that two key strategies greatly enhance the probability of reaching the defect-free state. First, operating at a low effective injection rate just above threshold, exploits the amplitude degree of freedom, allowing the system to form transient zero-amplitude holes: instantons in one dimension, or vortex-antivortex rarefaction pulses in two-dimensional space, that enable phase slips. Second, preparing the initial condition with amplitude or phase inhomogeneities can directly seed these amplitude collapses and prevent the system from getting trapped in higher-energy states with nonzero winding. Using the Stuart--Landau and Ginzburg--Landau equations as models for fast-reservoir lasers, we derive analytic and numerical evidence that even relatively minor amplitude dips can trigger global unwinding in 1D. We further demonstrate that the pump's slow annealing favours these amplitude-driven events, leading to improved success in finding the globally coherent ground state. These findings highlight the critical role of amplitude freedom in analogue solvers for XY optimization problems, showing how local amplitude suppression provides a direct route to ejecting topological defects.
title Instantons and Rarefaction Pulses as Pathways to Global Phase Coherence in Gain-Based Optical Networks
topic Optics
Pattern Formation and Solitons
Applied Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.04031