Probing Weyl Physics with One-dimensional Sonic Crystals

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the experimental realization of Weyl physics in a one-dimensional sonic crystal by creating a synthetic three-dimensional space, observing Weyl points, phase singularities, and topological interface modes.

Contribution

It introduces the first experimental realization of topological Weyl physics in a synthetic acoustic space using a simple one-dimensional sonic crystal.

Findings

Direct observation of synthetic Weyl points

Probing of reflection phase singularities linked to topological robustness

Demonstration of nontrivial interface modes

Abstract

Recently, intense efforts have been devoted to realizing classical analogues of various topological phases of matter. In this Letter, we explore the intriguing Weyl physics by a simple one-dimensional sonic crystal, in which two extra structural parameters are combined to construct a synthetic three-dimensional space. Based on our underwater ultrasonic experiments, we have not only observed the synthetic Weyl points directly, but also probed the novel reflection phase singularity that connects inherently with the topological robustness of Weyl points. As a smoking gun evidence of the topological states of matter, the presence of nontrivial interface modes has been demonstrated further. All experimental data agree well with our full-wave simulations. As the first realization of topological acoustics in synthetic space, our study exhibits great potential of probing high-dimensional topological phenomena by such easily-fabricated and -detected low-dimension acoustic systems.