Photonic simulation of topological excitations in metamaterials

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how metamaterials can simulate topological phases and excitations found in condensed matter systems by mapping Maxwell's equations to the Dirac equation, with experimental validation in microwave setups.

Contribution

It establishes a direct link between topological order and chirality in metamaterials through explicit mapping and experimental realization, bridging condensed matter physics and optics.

Findings

First microwave measurement of topological excitations in 1D

Experimental demonstration of band inversion and chirality change

Mapping Maxwell's equations to the Dirac equation in metamaterials

Abstract

Condensed matter systems with topological order and metamaterials with left-handed chirality have attracted recently extensive interests in the fields of physics and optics. So far the two fields are independent, and there is no work to address their connection. Here we propose to establish the relation between the topological order in condensed matter systems and the chirality in metamaterials, by mapping explicitly Maxwell's equations to the Dirac equation in one dimension. We report an experimental implement of the band inversion in the Dirac equation, which accompanies change of chirality of electromagnetic wave in metamaterials, and the first microwave measurement of topological excitations and topological phases in one dimension. Our finding provides a proof-of-principle example that electromagnetic wave in the metamaterials can be used to simulate the topological order in condensed matter systems and quantum phenomena in relativistic quantum mechanics in a controlled laboratory environment.