Nonreciprocal optical solitons in a spinning Kerr resonator

Abstract: We propose a spinning nonlinear resonator as an experimentally accessible platform to achieve nonreciprocal control of optical solitons. Nonreciprocity here results from the relativistic Sagnac-Fizeau optical drag effect, which is different for pump fields propagating in the spinning direction or in the direction opposite to it. We show that in a spinning Kerr resonator, different soliton states appear for the input fields in different directions. These nonreciprocal solitons are more stable against losses induced by inter-modal coupling between clockwise and counterclockwise modes of the resonator. Our work builds a bridge between nonreciprocal physics and soliton science, providing a promising route towards achieving soliton-wave optical isolators and one-way soliton communications.