Abstract: | Floquet systems often exhibit dynamical symmetries (DS) that govern the time-dependent dynamics and result in selection rules. When the DS is broken by a perturbation, deviations from these selection rules are expected. While these deviations are often used for exploring the perturbations and perturbed dynamics, so far, they are not described by a general theory. In my talk, I will consider dynamical symmetry breaking in Floquet systems from a general perspective, formulating a general theory that analytically connects the symmetry-broken and fully-symmetric systems. Using a symmetry breaking laser field as a model perturbation, I will begin by explicitly showing that the broken symmetry induces ‘selection rules’ for the allowed/forbidden contributions to selection rule deviations. We will identify that these ‘selection rules’ are a manifestation of an unexplored class of DS in what at first glance appear to be symmetry broken systems but are in fact systems that exhibit dynamical symmetries in a high-dimensional synthetic space. Lastly, we will compare predictions obtained from the analytical theory to numerical calculations and experimental measurements of DS breaking in HHG. To conclude, I will discuss how the approach can be applied to other types of symmetry breaking due to intrinsic properties of the medium, or properties of the light-matter dressed system . |