Threshold of complexity and Arnold tongues in Kerr-ring microresonators

Abstract

We show that the threshold condition for two pump photons to convert into a pair of the sideband ones in Kerr microresonators with high-quality factors breaks the pump laser parameter space into a sequence of narrow in frequency and broad in power Arnold tongues. Instability tongues become a dominant feature in resonators with the finesse dispersion parameter close to and above one. As pump power is increased, the tongues expand and cross by forming a line of cusps, i.e., the threshold of complexity, where more sideband pairs become unstable. We elaborate theory for the tongues and threshold of complexity, and report the synchronisation and frequency-domain symmetry breaking effects inside the tongues.