Magnetic slowdown of topological edge states

TL;DR

This paper investigates how magnetic fields influence the propagation of topological edge states, revealing effects like slowdown, dispersion, and Aharonov-Bohm phenomena through semiclassical analysis and numerical simulations.

Contribution

It introduces a semiclassical framework for wavepacket propagation along magnetic topological interfaces, highlighting magnetic effects on edge state dynamics.

Findings

Wavepackets slow down in magnetic fields

Dispersion and Aharonov-Bohm effects are observed

Numerical simulations confirm theoretical predictions

Abstract

We study the propagation of wavepackets along curved interfaces between topological, magnetic materials. Our Hamiltonian is a massive Dirac operator with a magnetic potential. We construct semiclassical wavepackets propagating along the curved interface as adiabatic modulations of straight edge states under constant magnetic fields. While in the magnetic-free case, the wavepackets propagate coherently at speed one, here they experience slowdown, dispersion, and Aharonov - Bohm effects. Several numerical simulations illustrate our results.