1. Equireflectionality and customized unbalanced coherent perfect absorption in asymmetric waveguide networks
- Author
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Röntgen, Malte, Richoux, Olivier, Theocharis, Georgios, Morfonios, Christian V., Schmelcher, Peter, del Hougne, Philipp, and Achilleos, Vassos
- Subjects
Physics - Classical Physics ,Physics - Optics - Abstract
We explore the scattering of waves in designed asymmetric one-dimensional waveguide networks. We show that the reflection between two ports of an asymmetric network can be identical over a broad frequency range, as if the network was mirror-symmetric, under the condition of so-called latent symmetry between the ports. This broadband equireflectionality is validated numerically for acoustic waveguides and experimentally through measurements on microwave transmission-line networks. In addition, introducing a generalization of latent symmetry, we study the properties of an $N$-port scattering matrix $S$. When the powers of $S$ fulfill certain relations, which we coin scaled cospectrality, the setup is guaranteed to possess at least one zero eigenvalue of $S$, so that the setup features coherent perfect absorption. More importantly, scaled cospectrality introduces a scaling factor which controls the asymmetry of the incoming wave to be absorbed. Our findings introduce a novel approach for designing tunable wave manipulation devices in asymmetric setups. As evidenced by our acoustic simulations and microwave experiments, the generality of our approach extends its potential applications to a wide range of physical systems.
- Published
- 2023