Emergent phenomena in chiral active matter

In recent years,there has been growing interest in the study of chiral active materials,which consist of building blocks that show active dynamics featuring chiral symmetry breaking,e.g.,particles that rotate in a common direction.These materials exhibit fascinating phenomena such as odd viscosity,odd diffusivity,active turbulence in fluids,vivid dislocation dynamics or odd elasticity in crystals or elastic materials,and hyperuniform states.The systematic study of soft chiral active matter systems is relatively new,starting around 2017,but has already shown promising applications in robust cargo transport,segregation and mixing dynamics,or manipulation of metamaterials.In this review,we summarize recent experimental and theoretical advances in this field,highlighting the emergence of anti-symmetric and odd stresses and ensuring effects such as odd viscosity or topologically protected edge modes.We further discuss the underlying mechanisms and provide insights into the potential of chiral active matter for various applications.

Topological edge state analysis of hexagonal phononic crystals

In this study,we propose valley phononic crystals that consist of a hexagonal aluminum plate with six chiral arrangements of ligaments.Valley phononic crystals were introduced into a topological insulator(TI)system to produce topologically protected edge waves(TPEW s)along the topological interfaces.The implementation of chiral topological edge states is different from the implementation of topological edge states of systems with symmetry.Unlike the conventional breaking of mirror symmetry,a new complete band with topological edge modes gap was opened up at the Dirac point by tuning the difference in lengths of the ligaments in the chiral unit cells.We investigated the dispersion properties in chiral systems and applied the dispersion properties to waveguides on the interfaces to achieve designable route systems.Furthermore,we simulated the robust propagation of TPEWs in different routes and demonstrated their immunity to backscattering at defects.Finally,the existence of the valley Hall effect in chiral systems was demonstrated.The study findings may lead to the further study of the topological states of chiral materials.

Classification of topological phases in one dimensional interacting non-Hermitian systems and emergent unitarity

Topological phases in non-Hermitian systems have become fascinating subjects recently.In this paper,we attempt to classify topological phases in 1D interacting non-Hermitian systems.We begin with the non-Hermitian generalization of the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger(SSH)model and discuss its many-body topological Berry phase,which is well defined for all interacting quasi-Hermitian systems(non-Hermitian systems that have real energy spectrum).We then demonstrate that the classification of topological phases for quasi-Hermitian systems is exactly the same as their Hermitian counterparts.Finally,we construct the fixed point partition function for generic 1D interacting non-Hermitian local systems and find that the fixed point partition function still has a one-to-one correspondence to their Hermitian counterparts.Thus,we conclude that the classification of topological phases for generic 1D interacting non-Hermitian systems is still exactly the same as Hermitian systems.

Symmetry protected topological Luttinger liquids and the phase transition between them

We show that a doped spin-1/2 ladder with antiferromagnetic intra-chain and ferromagnetic inter-chain coupling is a symmetry protected topologically non-trivial Luttinger liquid.Turning on a large easy-plane spin anisotropy drives the system to a topologically-trivial Luttinger liquid.Both phases have full spin gaps and exhibit power-law superconducting pair correlation.The Cooper pair symmetry is singlet dxy in the non-trivial phase and triplet Sz? 0 in the trivial phase.The topologically non-trivial Luttinger liquid exhibits gapless spin excitations in the presence of a boundary,and it has no non-interacting or mean-field theory analog even when the fluctuating phase in the charge sector is pinned.As a function of the strength of spin anisotropy there is a topological phase transition upon which the spin gap closes.We speculate these Luttinger liquids are relevant to the superconductivity in metalized integer spin ladders or chains.

Node line semimetal states in tungsten-based materials

Node line semimetals(NLSMs) were characterized by one-dimensional band crossings in their bulk electronic structures.The nontrivial band topology of NLSM gives rise to "drumhead" surface electronic excitations that exhibits exotic physical properties.The symmetries of crystalline provide the needed protection of node line from being gapped out by the perturbations that preserve the symmetry.The progress of NLSM in tungsten-based materials is reviewed with an emphasis on their symmetry-based protection,characteristic electronic band structures and their response to the spin-orbit coupling(SOC)and breaking of time-reversal symmetry.The potential exploration directions of tungsten-based NLSM in the future are also discussed.