Tutorial: synthetic frequency dimensions in dynamically modulated ring resonators

Abstract: The concept of synthetic dimensions in photonics has attracted rapidly growing interest in the past few years. Among a variety of photonic systems, the ring resonator system under dynamic modulation has been investigated in depth both in theory and experiment, and has proven to be a powerful way to build synthetic frequency dimensions. In this tutorial, we start with a pedagogical introduction to the theoretical approaches in describing the dynamically modulated ring resonator system, and then review experimental methods in building such a system. Moreover, we discuss important physical phenomena in synthetic dimensions, including nontrivial topological physics. Our tutorial provides a pathway towards studying the dynamically modulated ring resonator system, understanding synthetic dimensions in photonics, and discusses future prospects for both fundamental research and practical applications using synthetic dimensions.