Simulating graphene dynamics in one-dimensional modulated ring array with synthetic dimension

Abstract: A dynamically-modulated ring system with frequency as a synthetic dimension has been shown to be a powerful platform to do quantum simulation and explore novel optical phenomena. Here we propose synthetic honeycomb lattice in a one-dimensional ring array under dynamic modulations, with the extra dimension being the frequency of light. Such system is highly re-configurable with modulation. Various physical phenomena associated with graphene including Klein tunneling, valley-dependent edge states, effective magnetic field, as well as valley-dependent Lorentz force can be simulated in this lattice, which exhibits important potentials for manipulating photons in different ways. Our work unveils a new platform for constructing the honeycomb lattice in a synthetic space, which holds complex functionalities and could be important for optical signal processing as well as quantum computing.