二维声子晶体中简单旋转操作导致的拓扑相变

构建了一种简单的二维声子晶体:由两个横截面为三角形的钢柱所组成的复式元胞按三角点阵的形式排列在空气中,等效地形成了一个蜂巢点阵结构.当三角形钢柱的取向与三角点阵的高对称方向一致时,整个体系具有C_(6v)对称性.研究发现:在保持钢柱填充率不变的条件下,只需要将所有三角柱绕着自己的中心旋转180°,就可实现二重简并的p态和d态在布里渊区中心Γ点处的频率反转,且该能带反转过程实质上是一个拓扑相变过程.通过利用Γ点的P态和d态的空间旋转对称性,构造了一个赝时反演对称性,并在声学系统中实现了类似于电子系统中量子自旋霍尔效应的赝自旋态.随后通过k·p微扰法导出了Γ点附近的有效哈密顿量,并分别计算了拓扑平庸和非平庸系统的自旋陈数,揭示了能带反转和拓扑相变的内在联系.最后通过数值模拟演示了受到拓扑不变量保护的声波边界态的单向传输行为和对缺陷的背向散射抑制.文中所研究的声波体系,尽管材料普通常见,但其拓扑带隙的相对宽度超过21%,比已报道的类似体系的带隙都要宽,且工作原理涵盖从次声波到超声波的很大频率范围,从而在实际应用上具有较大的优势和潜力.

Higher-Order Topological Spin Hall Effect of Sound

We theoretically propose a reconfigurable two-dimensional(2 D)hexagonal sonic crystal with higher-order topology protected by the six-fold,C6,rotation symmetry.The acoustic band gap and band topology can be controlled by rotating the triangular scatterers in each unit cell.In the nontrivial phase,the sonic crystal realizes the topological spin Hall effect in a higher-order fashion:(i)the edge states emerging in the bulk band gap exhibit partial spin-momentum correlation and are gapped due to the reduced spatial symmetry at the edges.(ii)The gapped edge states,on the other hand,stabilize the topological corner states emerging in the edge band gap.The partial spin-momentum correlation is manifested as pseudo-spin-polarization of edge states away from the time-reversal invariant momenta,where the pseudospin is emulated by the acoustic orbital angular momentum.We reveal the underlying topological mechanism using a corner topological index based on the symmetry representation of the acoustic Bloch bands.

声波超材料中D类拓扑的观测

Topological materials and metamaterials opened new paradigms to create and manipulate phases of matter with unconventional properties.Topological D-class phases(TDPs)are archetypes of the ten-fold classification of topological phases with particle-hole symmetry.In two dimensions,TDPs support propagating topological edge modes that simulate the elusive Majorana elementary particles.Furthermore,a piercing ofπ-flux Dirac-solenoids in TDPs stabilizes localized Majorana excitations that can be braided for the purpose of topological quantum computation.Such two-dimensional(2D)TDPs have been a focus in the research frontier,but their experimental realizations are still under debate.Here,with a novel design scheme,we realize 2D TDPs in an acoustic crystal by synthesizing both the particle-hole and fermion-like time reversal symmetries for a wide range of frequencies.The design scheme leverages an enriched unit cell structure with real-valued couplings that emulate the targeted Hamiltonian of TDPs with complex hoppings:A technique that could unlock the realization of all topological classes with passive metamaterials.In our experiments,we realize a pair of TDPs with opposite Chern numbers in two independent sectors that are connected by an intrinsic fermion-like timereversal symmetry built in the system.We measure the acoustic Majorana-like helical edge modes and visualize their robust topological transport,thus revealing the unprecedented D and DIII class topologies with direct evidence.Our study opens up a new pathway for the experimental realization of two fundamental classes of topological phases and may offer new insights in fundamental physics,materials science,and phononic information processing.

具有半子模式欧拉拓扑绝缘体的声学观测

Topological band theory has conventionally been concerned with the topology of bands around a single gap. Only recently non-Abelian topologies that thrive on involving multiple gaps were studied, unveiling a new horizon in topological physics beyond the conventional paradigm. Here, we report on the first experimental realization of a topological Euler insulator phase with unique meronic characterization in an acoustic metamaterial. We demonstrate that this topological phase has several nontrivial features:First, the system cannot be described by conventional topological band theory, but has a nontrivial Euler class that captures the unconventional geometry of the Bloch bands in the Brillouin zone.Second, we uncover in theory and probe in experiments a meronic configuration of the bulk Bloch states for the first time. Third, using a detailed symmetry analysis, we show that the topological Euler insulator evolves from a non-Abelian topological semimetal phase via. the annihilation of Dirac points in pairs in one of the band gaps. With these nontrivial properties, we establish concretely an unconventional bulk-edge correspondence which is confirmed by directly measuring the edge states via. pump-probe techniques. Our work thus unveils a nontrivial topological Euler insulator phase with a unique meronic pattern and paves the way as a platform for non-Abelian topological phenomena.