Energy density as a probe of band representations in photonic crystals

TL;DR

This paper explores how electromagnetic energy density analysis can complement topological band characterization in 2D photonic crystals, enhancing understanding of their topological properties.

Contribution

It introduces a combined approach using TQC, Wilson-loop spectra, and energy density localization to analyze topological features in photonic crystals.

Findings

Energy density localization complements Wilson-loop analysis.

Topological features are identifiable through energy density patterns.

Combined methods improve topological characterization accuracy.

Abstract

Topological Quantum Chemistry (TQC) has recently emerged as a instrumental tool to characterize the topological nature of both fermionic and bosonic band structures. TQC is based on the study of band representations and the localization of maximally localized Wannier functions. In this article, we study various two-dimensional photonic crystal structures analyzing their topological character through a combined study of TQC, their Wilson-loop spectra and the electromagnetic energy density. Our study demonstrates that the analysis of the spatial localization of the energy density complements the study of the topological properties in terms of the spectrum of the Wilson-loop operator and TQC.