Experimental study of active LRC circuits with PT symmetries

Mutually coupled modes of a pair of active LRC circuits, one with amplification and another with an equivalent amount of attenuation, provide an experimental realization of a wide class of systems where gain and loss mechanisms break the Hermiticity while preserving parity-time PT symmetry. For a value {gamma}{sub PT} of the gain and loss strength parameter the eigenfrequencies undergo a spontaneous phase transition from real to complex values, while the normal modes coalesce, acquiring a definite chirality. The consequences of the phase transition in the spatiotemporal energy evolution are also presented.

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