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WAVE PHYSICS

Topological vortices for sound and light

Nature Nanotechnology volume 16, pages 487–489 (2021)Cite this article

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Localized zero-energy fermionic states can bind to topological defects such as two-dimensional vortices, which can be realized in the bulk of artificial acoustic and optical lattices.

Topological defects are local kinks or obstructions in an order parameter field where domain walls, superconductor vortices or dislocations are few of many prominent examples1. Topological bound states can form around these defects much in the same way edge and surface states bind to one- and two-dimensional (1D and 2D) interfaces, respectively. Originally, the Jackiw–Rossi model2 described topological defects in the form of vortices in quantum field theory showing that localized zero-energy fermionic states bind at the vortex core. Interestingly, the binding mechanism of such localized defects is identical to Majorana bound states in p-wave superconductors3. Similarly, the distortion of the hexagonal lattice of graphene by a so-called Kekulé distortion field induces an equivalent zero mode, that is, a topological mid-gap state in the Dirac spectrum4. Beyond advances made in intricate topological quantum systems, the latter, theoretical finding suggests that single-particle wave functions, and therefore, by the same token, sound, light or vibrations could bind to an analogous classical vortex.

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Fig. 1: Schematic of the Jackiw–Rossi vortex.

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  1. Department of Physics, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Penglin Gao & Johan Christensen

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  1. Penglin Gao
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  2. Johan Christensen
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Correspondence to Johan Christensen.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Gao, P., Christensen, J. Topological vortices for sound and light. Nat. Nanotechnol. 16, 487–489 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-021-00853-z

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