Nonlinear modes in finite-dimensional PT-symmetric systems.

By rearrangements of waveguide arrays with gain and losses one can simulate transformations among parity-time (PT-) symmetric systems not affecting their pure real linear spectra. Subject to such transformations, however, the nonlinear properties of the systems undergo significant changes. On an example of an array of four waveguides described by the discrete nonlinear Schrödinger equation with dissipation and gain, we show that the equivalence of the underlying linear spectra does not imply similarity of the structure or stability of the nonlinear modes in the arrays. Even the existence of one-parametric families of nonlinear modes is not guaranteed by the PT symmetry of a newly obtained system. In addition, the stability is not directly related to the PT symmetry: stable nonlinear modes exist even when the spectrum of the linear array is not purely real. We use a graph representation of PT-symmetric networks allowing for a simple illustration of linearly equivalent networks and indicating their possible experimental design.