Synthetic SU(3) non-Abelian gauge fields in photonic synthetic frequency dimensions
Abstract
Synthetic gauge fields provide a powerful route to engineer photonic wave dynamics, especially in synthetic frequency dimensions formed by modulated resonator modes. While most previous realizations have focused on Abelian or lower-rank non-Abelian structures, a photonic implementation of SU(3) gauge fields in the synthetic frequency dimension has remained lacking. Here we propose a route to realize SU(3) gauge structure using three coupled ring resonators with modulation- and interference-engineered mode conversion. We formulate a tight-binding Hamiltonian with matrix-valued hopping generated by the Gell-Mann matrices and show how its evolution can be decomposed into experimentally implementable optical elements. The resulting platform supports SU(3)-structured band dispersions with color-resolved texture and wave-packet dynamics shaped by SU(3) gauge fields. Full-wave-inspired numerical modeling further confirms the expected spectral response and Zitterbewegung-like motion in SU(3) subspaces. Our results introduce SU(3) gauge fields into synthetic frequency photonics and establish a route toward higher-rank non-Abelian control of light in modulated resonator systems.
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BibTeX
@misc{wong2026synthetic,
title = {{Synthetic SU(3) non-Abelian gauge fields in photonic synthetic frequency dimensions}},
author = {Bengy Tsz Tsun Wong and Shu Yang and Zehai Pang and Yi Yang},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.00304},
eprint = {2610.00304},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.00304},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Synthetic SU(3) non-Abelian gauge fields in photonic synthetic frequency dimensions
AU - Bengy Tsz Tsun Wong
AU - Shu Yang
AU - Zehai Pang
AU - Yi Yang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.00304
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.00304
AB - Synthetic gauge fields provide a powerful route to engineer photonic wave dynamics, especially in synthetic frequency dimensions formed by modulated resonator modes. While most previous realizations have focused on Abelian or lower-rank non-Abelian structures, a photonic implementation of SU(3) gauge fields in the synthetic frequency dimension has remained lacking. Here we propose a route to realize SU(3) gauge structure using three coupled ring resonators with modulation- and interference-engineered mode conversion. We formulate a tight-binding Hamiltonian with matrix-valued hopping generated by the Gell-Mann matrices and show how its evolution can be decomposed into experimentally implementable optical elements. The resulting platform supports SU(3)-structured band dispersions with color-resolved texture and wave-packet dynamics shaped by SU(3) gauge fields. Full-wave-inspired numerical modeling further confirms the expected spectral response and Zitterbewegung-like motion in SU(3) subspaces. Our results introduce SU(3) gauge fields into synthetic frequency photonics and establish a route toward higher-rank non-Abelian control of light in modulated resonator systems.
ER -