Observation of Parity-Time Symmetry in Optically Induced Atomic Lattices
  We experimentally demonstrate PT-symmetric optical lattices with periodical gain and loss profiles in a coherently-prepared four-level N-type atomic system. By appropriately tuning the pertinent atomic parameters, the onset of PT-symmetry breaking is observed through measuring an abrupt phase-shift jump between adjacent gain and loss waveguides. The experimental realization of such readily reconfigurable and effectively controllable PT-symmetric waveguide array structure sets a new stage for further exploiting and better understanding the peculiar physical properties of these non-Hermitian systems in atomic settings. 
Zhaoyang Zhang, Yiqi Zhang, Jiteng Sheng, Liu Yang, Mohammad-Ali Miri,   Demetrios N. Christodoulides, Bing He, Yanpeng Zhan...
physics.optics