Observation of non-Hermitian topology and its bulk-edge correspondence in an active mechanical metamaterial

For many materials, a precise knowledge of their dispersion spectra is insufficient to predict their ordered phases and physical responses. Instead, these materials are classified by the geometrical and topological properties of their wavefunctions. A key challenge is to identify and implement experiments that probe or control these quantum properties. In this review, we describe recent progress in this direction, focusing on nonlinear electromagnetic responses that arise dir...

Topological physics has revolutionised materials science, introducing topological insulators and superconductors with applications from smart materials to quantum computing. Bulk-boundary correspondence (BBC) is a core concept therein, where the non-trivial topology of a material's bulk predicts localized topological states at its boundaries. However, edge states also exist in systems where BBC is seemingly violated, leaving any topological origin unknown. For finite-frequenc...

Both theoretical and experimental studies of topological phases in non-Hermitian systems have made a remarkable progress in the last few years of research. In this article, we review the key concepts pertaining to topological phases in non-Hermitian Hamiltonians with relevant examples and realistic model setups. Discussions are devoted to both the adaptations of topological invariants from Hermitian to non-Hermitian systems, as well as origins of new topological invariants in...

The bulk-boundary or bulk-edge correspondence is a principle relating surface confined states to the topological classification of the bulk. By combining non-Hermitian ingredients in terms of gain or loss with media that violate reciprocity, an unconventional non-Bloch bulk-boundary correspondence leads to unusual localization of bulk states at boundaries$-$a phenomenon coined non-Hermitian skin effect. Here we \textcolor{black}{numerically} employ the acoustoelectric effect ...

Nonreciprocal nonhermitian systems provide an unconventional localization mechanism of topological zero modes via the nonhermitian skin effect. While fundamental theoretical characterizations of this effect involve the biorthogonal system of right and left eigenmodes, the recent demonstration of this effect for a zero mode in a robotic metamaterial (Ghatak et al., arXiv:1907.11619) is based on the direct experimental observation of the conventional right eigenvectors. Here I ...

Topological insulators are insulating in the bulk but feature conducting states on their surfaces. Standard methods for probing their topological properties largely involve probing the surface, even though topological invariants are defined via the bulk band structure. Here, we utilize non-hermiticy to experimentally demonstrate a topological transition in an optical system, using bulk behavior only, without recourse to surface properties. This concept is relevant for a wide ...

One of the most significant breakthroughs in physics of the last decade has been the discovery that materials with non-trivial topological properties for electronic, electromagnetic, acoustic and mechanical responses can be designed and manufactured at our will through engineered metamaterials (MMs). Here, we review the foundation and the state-of-the-art advances of topological photonics, acoustics and mechanical MMs. We discuss how topological MMs enable nontrivial wave phe...

Flexible mechanical metamaterials possess repeating structural motifs that imbue them with novel, exciting properties including programmability, anomalous elastic moduli and nonlinear and robust response. We address such structures via micromorphic continuum elasticity, which allows highly nonuniform deformations (missed in conventional elasticity) within unit cells that nevertheless vary smoothly between cells. We show that the bulk microstructure gives rise to boundary elas...

Mechanical metamaterials are engineered materials that gain their remarkable mechanical properties, such as negative Poisson's ratios, negative compressibility, phononic bandgaps, and topological phonon modes, from their structure rather than composition. Here we propose a new design principle, based on a uniform soft deformation of the whole structure, to allow metamaterials to be immediately and reversibly transformed between states with contrasting mechanical and acoustic ...

The past decades have witnessed an explosion of interest in topological materials, and a lot of mathematical concepts have been introduced in condensed matter physics. Among them, the bulk-boundary correspondence is the central topic in topological physics, which has inspired researchers to focus on boundary physics. Recently, the concepts of topological phases have been extended to non-Hermitian Hamiltonians, whose eigenvalues can be complex. Besides the topology, non-Hermit...