Physical rendering of synthetic spaces for topological sound transport

Abstract

Synthetic dimensions can be rendered in the physical space and this has been achieved with photonics and cold atomic gases, however, little to no work has been succeeded in acoustics because acoustic wave-guides cannot be weakly coupled in a continuous fashion. Here, we establish the theoretical principles and for the first time manufacture acoustic crystals composed of arrays of acoustic cavities strongly coupled through modulated channels to evidence one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) dynamic topological pumpings. In particular, the topological edge-bulkedge and corner-bulk-corner transport are physically illustrated in finite-sized acoustic structures. We delineate the generated 2D and four-dimensional (4D) quantum Hall effects by calculating first and second Chern numbers and demonstrating robustness against the geometrical imperfections. Synthetic dimensions could provide a powerful way for acoustic topological wave steering and open up a new platform to explore higher-order topological matter in dimensions four and higher.

Qian Wu (吳謙)

Postdoctoral Fellow of Mechanical Engineering

My research interests include active elastic metamaterials, topological mechanics and elastodynamics, and non-Hermitian elastic systems.