Asymmetric Perfect Absorption and Lasing of Nonlinear Waves by a Complex δ-Potential

Abstract

Spectral singularities and coherent perfect absorption are two interrelated concepts that have originally been introduced and studied for linear waves interacting with complex potentials. In the meantime, the distinctive asymptotic behavior of perfectly absorbed waves suggests considering possible generalizations of these phenomena for nonlinear waves. Here, we address the perfect absorption of nonlinear waves by an idealized infinitely narrow dissipative potential modeled by a Dirac δ-function with an imaginary amplitude. Our main result is the existence of perfectly absorbed flows whose spatial amplitude distributions are asymmetric with respect to the position of the absorber. These asymmetric states do not have a linear counterpart. Their linear stability is verified numerically. The nonlinear waveguide also supports symmetric and constant-amplitude perfectly absorbed flows. The stability of solutions of the latter type can be confirmed analytically.