Dissipation-induced acoustic nonreciprocity

Linear acoustic transmission through a stationary elastic medium possesses Rayleigh reciprocal symmetry with respect to pressure produced by a source at point A(B) and measured at point B(A), p_A(r_B) = p_B(r_A). In ideal (inviscid) fluids, pressure plays the role of the scalar potential for velocity, v∼∇p. The Rayleigh reciprocity theorem is formulated for velocity potentials but not for their gradients. Any function of the absolute value of velocity, v(r), lacks reciprocal symmetry. In particular, acoustic intencity I = pv is not symmetric, I_A(r_B) ≠ I_B(r_A). Dynamics of ideal fluid is time-reversible, and lack of reciprocal symmetry is attributed to asymmetry in scattering. However, in a viscous environment dissipation breaks T symmetry making fluid dynamics irreversible. We report that acoustic transmission is not only irreversible but also becomes nonreciprocal due to different amount of dissipated energy for forward and backward propagation, provided that mirror symmetry (P symmetry) is broken. Since dissipation occurs within a narrow viscous layer at solid–fluid interface, the amount of nonreciprocity in transmission strongly depends on the quality of the surface of scatterers. Experiments performed with scatterers of different surface quality show how surface roughness affects the level of nonreciprocity. In a series of experiments with asymmetric phononic crystal, Tesla valve, and acoustic cavity, we demonstrate dissipation-induced nonreciprocity in transmission. [This work is supported by the NSF under EFRI Grant No. 1741677.]