2015/07/07 by Filippo Cardano, Maria Maffei, Francesco Massa +9 · 2 citations
Computer Science · Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Discontinuity (linguistics) #Mathematics #Phase transition #Physics #Position (finance) #Quantum #Quantum Computing Algorithms and Architecture #Quantum Information and Cryptography #Quantum algorithm #Quantum computer #Quantum mechanics #Quantum phase transition #Quantum phases #Quantum simulator #Quantum walk #Realization (probability) #Statistical physics #Symmetry protected topological order #Topological Materials and Phenomena #Topological degeneracy #Topological entropy in physics #Topological order #Topological quantum number #Topology (electrical circuits) #cond-mat.str-el #physics.optics #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/ncomms11439
published as Nature Communications 7, 11439 (2016)
arxiv created 2015/07/07 · openalex publication_date 2016/04/22 · arxiv updated 2016/05/12 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Many phenomena in solid-state physics can be understood in terms of their topological properties. Recently, controlled protocols of quantum walk (QW) are proving to be effective simulators of such phenomena. Here we report the realization of a photonic QW showing both the trivial and the non-trivial topologies associated with chiral symmetry in one-dimensional (1D) periodic systems. We find that the probability distribution moments of the walker position after many steps can be used as direct indicators of the topological quantum transition: while varying a control parameter that defines the system phase, these moments exhibit a slope discontinuity at the transition point. Numerical simulations strongly support the conjecture that these features are general of 1D topological systems. Extending this approach to higher dimensions, different topological classes, and other typologies of quantum phases may offer general instruments for investigating and experimentally detecting quantum transitions in such complex systems.