Nonlocality-enabled photonic analogies of parallel spaces, wormholes and multiple realities

The concepts of the multiverse and wormholes in dimensions beyond our physical space have long captivated curiosity and imagination, yet experimental demonstrations remain elusive. In this work, we employ nonlocal artificial materials to construct a photonic analogy of parallel spaces, where two distinct effective optical media coexist within a single artificial material, each accessible through different material boundaries. Enhanced by deep learning, this method further enables the analogies of two fascinating phenomena: photonic wormholes as invisible optical tunnels, and photonic multiple realities, where two different optical devices or scatterers function independently at the same location as if they exist in separate dimensions. Our findings empower optical designs to transcend the limitations of physical dimensions effectively, paving the way for an unprecedented degree of freedom in multiplexing. Multiverse and wormholes are experimentally elusive due to dimensional constraints. Here, authors use nonlocal artificial materials and deep learning to emulate photonic parallel spaces, realizing invisible zero-index tunnels and independent optical devices coexisting at the same physical location.