Ekaterina Smolina

Ekaterina O. Smolina, Lev A. Smirnov, Daniel Leykam et al.

We show how machine learning techniques can be applied for the classification of topological phases in leaky photonic lattices using limited measurement data. We propose an approach based solely on bulk intensity measurements, thus exempt from the need for complicated phase retrieval procedures. In particular, we design a fully connected neural network that accurately determines topological properties from the output intensity distribution in dimerized waveguide arrays with leaky channels, after propagation of a spatially localized initial excitation at a finite distance, in a setting that closely emulates realistic experimental conditions.

Ekaterina Smolina, Lev Smirnov, Daniel Leykam et al.

The use of machine learning to predict wave dynamics is a topic of growing interest, but commonly-used deep learning approaches suffer from a lack of interpretability of the trained models. Here we present an interpretable machine learning framework for analyzing the nonlinear evolution dynamics of optical wavepackets in complex wave media. We use sparse regression to reduce microscopic discrete lattice models to simpler effective continuum models which can accurately describe the dynamics of the wavepacket envelope. We apply our approach to valley-Hall domain walls in honeycomb photonic lattices of laser-written waveguides with Kerr-type nonlinearity and different boundary shapes. The reconstructed equations accurately reproduce the linear dispersion and nonlinear effects including self-steepening and self-focusing. This scheme is proven free of the a priori limitations imposed by the underlying hierarchy of scales traditionally employed in asymptotic analytical methods. It represents a powerful interpretable machine learning technique of interest for advancing design capabilities in photonics and framing the complex interaction-driven dynamics in various topological materials.