Observation of Topologically Protected Edge States in a Photonic Two-Dimensional Quantum Walk

Physical Review Letters
Chao ChenJian-Wei Pan

Abstract

Periodically driven systems have displayed a variety of fascinating phenomena without analogies in static systems, which enrich the classification of quantum phases of matter and stimulate a wide range of research interests. Here, we employ discrete-time quantum walks to investigate a nontrivial topological effect unique to a two-dimensional periodically driven system: chiral edge states can exist at the interface of Floquet insulators whose Chern numbers vanish. Thanks to a resource-saving and flexible fiber-loop architecture, we realize inhomogeneous two-dimensional quantum walks up to 25 steps, over an effective 51×51 lattice with tunable local parameters. Spin-polarized chiral edge states are observed at the boundary of two distinct quantum walk domains. Our results contribute to establishing a well-controlled platform for exploring nontrivial topological phases.

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Citations

Feb 23, 2020·Physical Review Letters·Dizhou XieBo Yan
Nov 9, 2019·Physical Review Letters·Hamidreza ChalabiEdo Waks
Oct 31, 2020·Physical Review Letters·Feng MeiSuotang Jia
Mar 18, 2021·Journal of Physics. Condensed Matter : an Institute of Physics Journal·Elías AndradeR Carrillo-Bastos
Jun 26, 2021·Physical Review Letters·Lei XiaoPeng Xue

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