CAREER: Light in Chaotic Dielectrics - Resonances and Scattering

Princeton University, Princeton NJ

Investigators

Abstract

This is a CAREER award which supports both research and education. In particular, the PI will study the behavior of light in chaotic dielectrics. Due to the extremely high degree of coherence and the ability to manipulate ray dynamics by changing the shape and the size of the system, deformed dielectric resonators represent an ideal system to study the fundamental phenomena which determine the evolution of generic conservative dynamical systems. In the last few years, such structures were also used to develop a number of novel photonics devices, e.g., our "bow-tie" microlaser with power output increased by three orders of magnitude. The primary research goal of this grant is the study of resonances and light scattering in these dielectric systems. Research topics will include: a semiclassical theory of resonance lifetimes and emission patterns in deformed dielectric resonators; Arnold diffusion and chaos-assisted tunneling in open systems; dynamic Anderson localization and "scars" in dielectric resonators, both in two- and three-dimensional geometries; light scattering by nonspherical dielectric particles. The nonlinear dynamics and modern classical methods which play the major role in research are also the focus of the education program. Here the primary goal is to bring these ideas to the optics curriculum at both the undergraduate and graduate level. This is a CAREER award which supports both research and education. In particular, the PI will study the behavior of light in chaotic dielectrics. Due to the extremely high degree of coherence and the ability to manipulate ray dynamics by changing the shape and the size of the system, deformed dielectric resonators represent an ideal system to study the fundamental phenomena which determine the evolution of generic conservative dynamical systems. The primary research goal of this grant is the study of resonances and light scattering in these dielectric systems. The nonlinear dynamics and modern classical methods which play the major role in research are also the focus of the education program. Here the primary goal is to bring these ideas to the optics curriculum at both the undergraduate and graduate level.