2019/11/13 by Sebabrata Mukherjee, Mikael C. Rechtsman · 4 citations
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Fiber Laser Technologies #Band gap #Condensed matter physics #Context (archaeology) #Floquet theory #Lattice (music) #Mathematics #Nonlinear Photonic Systems #Nonlinear system #Photonics #Physics #Polariton #Quantum mechanics #Topological Materials and Phenomena #Topological insulator #Topology (electrical circuits) #cond-mat.mes-hall #cond-mat.quant-gas #nlin.PS #physics.optics
paper · pdf · doi:10.1126/science.aba8725
published as Science 368, 856-859 (2020) · 5 pages, 3 figures, and Supplementary Information
arxiv created 2019/11/13 · openalex publication_date 2020/05/21 · arxiv updated 2020/05/26 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Topological protection is a universal phenomenon that applies to electronic, photonic, ultracold atomic, mechanical, and other systems. The vast majority of research in these systems has explored the linear domain, where interparticle interactions are negligible. We experimentally observed solitons-waves that propagate without changing shape as a result of nonlinearity-in a photonic Floquet topological insulator. These solitons exhibited distinct behavior in that they executed cyclotron-like orbits associated with the underlying topology. Specifically, we used a waveguide array with periodic variations along the waveguide axis, giving rise to nonzero winding number, and the nonlinearity arose from the optical Kerr effect. This result applies to a range of bosonic systems because it is described by the focusing nonlinear Schrödinger equation (equivalently, the attractive Gross-Pitaevskii equation).