Group for Theoretical Physics II

Research

We investigate dynamic instabilities caused by optical feedback, optical injection or mode coupling in lasers. The charge carrier dynamics in the amplifier material (e.g. semiconductor nanostructures) play a central role here. Another research topic concerns the extent to which these optical systems can be used for hardware-based machine learning. We use numerical methods to solve coupled differential equations as well as analytical methods of nonlinear dynamics for bifurcation analysis. Reservoir computing is a method of machine learning that can be easily implemented in hardware and is being intensively investigated in the working group. In the project NeurosensEarNeuromorphic acoustic sensor technology for powerful hearing aids of tomorrow, funded by the Carl-Zeiss Foundation, we are investigating micro-mechanical resonators as in-sensor reservoir computers."