Optomechanical realization of the bosonic Kitaev chain

Jesse J. Slim, Clara C. Wanjura, Matteo Brunelli, Javier Pino, Andreas Nunnenkamp and Ewold Verhagen ()
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Jesse J. Slim: AMOLF
Clara C. Wanjura: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light
Matteo Brunelli: University of Basel
Javier Pino: AMOLF
Andreas Nunnenkamp: University of Vienna
Ewold Verhagen: AMOLF

Nature, 2024, vol. 627, issue 8005, 767-771

Abstract: Abstract The fermionic Kitaev chain is a canonical model featuring topological Majorana zero modes1. We report the experimental realization of its bosonic analogue2 in a nano-optomechanical network, in which the parametric interactions induce beam-splitter coupling and two-mode squeezing among the nanomechanical modes, analogous to hopping and p-wave pairing in the fermionic case, respectively. This specific structure gives rise to a set of extraordinary phenomena in the bosonic dynamics and transport. We observe quadrature-dependent chiral amplification, exponential scaling of the gain with system size and strong sensitivity to boundary conditions. All these are linked to the unique non-Hermitian topological nature of the bosonic Kitaev chain. We probe the topological phase transition and uncover a rich dynamical phase diagram by controlling interaction phases and amplitudes. Finally, we present an experimental demonstration of an exponentially enhanced response to a small perturbation3,4. These results represent the demonstration of a new synthetic phase of matter whose bosonic dynamics do not have fermionic parallels, and we have established a powerful system for studying non-Hermitian topology and its applications for signal manipulation and sensing.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07174-w

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