Nonlinear topological symmetry protection in a dissipative system

Abstract We investigate experimentally and theoretically a system ruled by an intricate interplay between topology, nonlinearity, and spontaneous symmetry breaking. The experiment is based on a two-mode coherently-driven optical resonator where photons interact through the Kerr nonlinearity. In presence of a phase defect, the modal structure acquires a synthetic Möbius topology enabling the realization of spontaneous symmetry breaking in inherently bias-free conditions without fine tuning of parameters. Rigorous statistical tests confirm the robustness of the underlying symmetry protection, which manifests itself by a periodic alternation of the modes reminiscent of period-doubling. This dynamic also confers long term stability to various localized structures including domain walls, solitons, and breathers. Our findings are supported by an effective Hamiltonian model and have relevance to other systems of interacting bosons and to the Floquet engineering of quantum matter. They could also be beneficial to the implementation of coherent Ising machines.