Events

Space-Time Duality in Optics and its Applications

Dr. Govind Agrawal, The Institute of Optics, University of Rochester

Goergen 101

Abstract:

The concept of space-time duality, known since the 1960s, is attracting attention in recent years in the context of temporal imaging. In this talk I review these advances and discuss how a modulator can act as a time lens. I then focus on our recent work on the temporal analog of reflection and refraction of optical pulses inside a dispersive medium whose refractive index changes across a temporal boundary. As an optical pulse approaches this boundary, it splits into two parts that propagate at different speeds because of their widely different spectra. An analog of the total internal reflection also occurs when the refractive index change at the boundary is large enough. This phenomenon can be used to make a temporal waveguide that confines optical pulses within a temporal window. I also discuss how the nonlinear phenomenon of cross- phase modulation can be used for making such a temporal waveguide by employing a pump-probe configuration.

 Bio:

Govind P. Agrawal received the B.S. degree from the University of Lucknow in 1969 and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi in 1971 and 1974, respectively. After holding positions at Ecole Polytechnic, France, City University of New York, and AT&T Bell Laboratories, NJ, Dr. Agrawal joined in 1989 the faculty of the Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester, where he holds the positions of Professor of Optics, Professor of Physics, and LLE Senior Scientist. His research interests span from optical communications and semiconductor lasers to nonlinear fiber optics and silicon photonics. He is an author or coauthor of more than 450 research papers and eight books including Fiber-Optic Communication Systems (4th ed., Wiley 2010) and Nonlinear Fiber Optics (6th ed., Academic Press 2019). These two books are used worldwide for graduate teaching and have helped in training a whole generation of scientists.

Dr. Agrawal is a Fellow of the Optical Society of America (OSA) and a Life Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). He is also a Life Fellow of the Optical Society of India. From 2008 to 2010 Dr. Agrawal chaired the Publication Council of OSA and was a member of its Board of Directors. From 2014 to 2019 he served as the Editor-in-Chief of the OSA Journal Advances in Optics and Photonics. His alma mater, Indian Institute of Technology, gave him in 2000 its Distinguished Alumni Award. In 2012, IEEE Photonics Society honored him with its Quantum Electronics Award. He received the 2013 William H. Riker University Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching. In 2015, he was awarded the Esther Hoffman Beller Medal of the Optical Society. Agrawal was the recipient of two major awards in 2019: Max Born Award of the Optical Society and Quantum Electronics Prize of the European Physics Society.

Location: Goergen 101

Refreshments will be served.