Non-reciprocal wave propagation in space-time modulated media

Abstract: We prove the possibility of achieving non-reciprocal wave propagation in space-time modulated media and give an asymptotic analysis of the non-reciprocity property in terms of the amplitude of the time-modulation. Such modulation causes a folding of the band structure of the material, which may induce degenerate points. By breaking time-reversal symmetry, we show that these degeneracies may open into non-symmetric, unidirectional band gaps. Finally we illustrate our results by several numerical simulations.