Abstract
We introduce Weyl Josephson circuits: small Josephson junction circuits that simulate Weyl band structures. We first formulate a general approach to design circuits that are analogous to Bloch Hamiltonians of a desired dimensionality and symmetry class. We then construct and analyze a six-junction device that produces a three-dimensional (3D) Weyl Hamiltonian with broken inversion symmetry and in which topological phase transitions can be triggered in situ. We argue that currently available superconducting circuit technology allows experiments that probe topological properties inaccessible in condensed matter systems.Received 25 September 2020Accepted 2 February 2021DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.3.013288Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.Published by the American Physical SocietyPhysics Subject Headings (PhySH)Research AreasGeometric & topological phasesJosephson effectMesoscopicsQuantum metrologyQuantum simulationQuantum transportSuperconductivityTopological materialsTopological phase transitionTopological phases of matterPhysical SystemsJosephson junctionsWeyl semimetalTechniquesTight-binding modelCondensed Matter, Materials & Applied PhysicsQuantum Information
Highlights
Topological classification is a building block in our understanding of condensed matter systems [1,2,3]
We describe specific applications that simulate Weyl band structures, including ones that can be tuned through a topological phase transition
We investigate topological aspects of the ground-state wave function, which is accomplished by inspecting its Berry curvature
Summary
Topological classification is a building block in our understanding of condensed matter systems [1,2,3]. Electronic matter that may exhibit topologically nontrivial ground states includes insulators, semimetals, and superconductors These ideas have been rapidly introduced to many other physical systems, such as quantum circuits [4,5,6] and metamaterials [7]. We draw on circuits based on linear elements [18,40,41] and standard Josephson tunnel junctions, which are both well developed—the design, fabrication, and measurement of the circuit’s nonlinear collective modes are all reliable, standard processes for experimental groups The robustness of these building-block circuit elements has provided a foundation for the development of ever more complicated qubits and quantum information systems in the past decades. We argue the topologically nontrivial nature of the circuits can be measured in experiments that are unavailable to real materials
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
