Spatio-temporal equilibrium thermodynamics of guided optical waves at positive and negative temperatures
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2025
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| _version_ | 1866917133106020352 |
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| author | Zanaglia, Lucas Garnier, Josselin Michel, Claire Doya, Valérie Ferraro, Mario Wabnitz, Stefan Carusotto, Iacopo Picozzi, Antonio |
| author_facet | Zanaglia, Lucas Garnier, Josselin Michel, Claire Doya, Valérie Ferraro, Mario Wabnitz, Stefan Carusotto, Iacopo Picozzi, Antonio |
| contents | Optical thermalization has been recently studied theoretically and experimentally in the 2D spatial evolution of (quasi-)monochromatic light waves propagating in multimode fibers. In this work, we investigate the spatio-temporal equilibrium properties of incoherent multimode optical waves through the analysis of the (2+1)D Bose-Einstein thermal distribution and the corresponding classical Rayleigh-Jeans approximation. In the anomalous dispersion regime, the spatio-temporal equilibrium is characterized by positive temperatures. In this regime, we show that as the number of modes of the waveguide increases, the fundamental spatial mode becomes macroscopically populated, while its temporal spectrum undergoes significant narrowing, ultimately leading to complete (2+1)D spatio-temporal condensation in the thermodynamic limit. In the normal dispersion regime, the spatio-temporal equilibrium is characterized by negative temperature states that exhibit a hybrid character: the spatial equilibrium displays an inverted modal population, whereas the temporal spectrum remains peaked around the fundamental (carrier) optical frequency. In this regime, we predict that spatio-temporal light waves exhibit a phase transition to Bose-Einstein condensation at negative temperatures, which occurs by increasing the temperature above a negative critical value. Our work opens new avenues for future research, including the possibility for a dual spatio-temporal beam cleaning through full spatio-temporal light condensation, and lay the groundwork for the development of spatio-temporal optical thermodynamics. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_07784 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Spatio-temporal equilibrium thermodynamics of guided optical waves at positive and negative temperatures Zanaglia, Lucas Garnier, Josselin Michel, Claire Doya, Valérie Ferraro, Mario Wabnitz, Stefan Carusotto, Iacopo Picozzi, Antonio Optics Optical thermalization has been recently studied theoretically and experimentally in the 2D spatial evolution of (quasi-)monochromatic light waves propagating in multimode fibers. In this work, we investigate the spatio-temporal equilibrium properties of incoherent multimode optical waves through the analysis of the (2+1)D Bose-Einstein thermal distribution and the corresponding classical Rayleigh-Jeans approximation. In the anomalous dispersion regime, the spatio-temporal equilibrium is characterized by positive temperatures. In this regime, we show that as the number of modes of the waveguide increases, the fundamental spatial mode becomes macroscopically populated, while its temporal spectrum undergoes significant narrowing, ultimately leading to complete (2+1)D spatio-temporal condensation in the thermodynamic limit. In the normal dispersion regime, the spatio-temporal equilibrium is characterized by negative temperature states that exhibit a hybrid character: the spatial equilibrium displays an inverted modal population, whereas the temporal spectrum remains peaked around the fundamental (carrier) optical frequency. In this regime, we predict that spatio-temporal light waves exhibit a phase transition to Bose-Einstein condensation at negative temperatures, which occurs by increasing the temperature above a negative critical value. Our work opens new avenues for future research, including the possibility for a dual spatio-temporal beam cleaning through full spatio-temporal light condensation, and lay the groundwork for the development of spatio-temporal optical thermodynamics. |
| title | Spatio-temporal equilibrium thermodynamics of guided optical waves at positive and negative temperatures |
| topic | Optics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.07784 |