Observation of topological transport quantization by dissipation in fast Thouless pumps

Zlata Fedorova (), Haixin Qiu (), Stefan Linden () and Johann Kroha ()
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Zlata Fedorova: Physikalisches Institut, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn
Haixin Qiu: Physikalisches Institut, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn
Stefan Linden: Physikalisches Institut, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn
Johann Kroha: Physikalisches Institut, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn

Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Quantized dynamics is essential for natural processes and technological applications alike. The work of Thouless on quantized particle transport in slowly varying potentials (Thouless pumping) has played a key role in understanding that such quantization may be caused not only by discrete eigenvalues of a quantum system, but also by invariants associated with the nontrivial topology of the Hamiltonian parameter space. Since its discovery, quantized Thouless pumping has been believed to be restricted to the limit of slow driving, a fundamental obstacle for experimental applications. Here, we introduce non-Hermitian Floquet engineering as a new concept to overcome this problem. We predict that a topological band structure and associated quantized transport can be restored at driving frequencies as large as the system’s band gap. The underlying mechanism is suppression of non-adiabatic transitions by tailored, time-periodic dissipation. We confirm the theoretical predictions by experiments on topological transport quantization in plasmonic waveguide arrays.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-17510-z

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