Thouless Pumping Research Articles

Two-Dimensional Nonlinear Thouless Pumping of Matter Waves.

We consider theoretically the nonlinear quantized Thouless pumping of a Bose-Einstein condensate loaded in two-dimensional dynamical optical lattices. We encountered three different scenarios of the pumping: a quasilinear one occurring for gradually dispersing wave packets, transport carried by a single two-dimensional soliton, and a multisoliton regime when the initial wave packet splits into several solitons. The scenario to be realized depends on the number of atoms in the initial wave packet and on the strength of the two-body interactions. The magnitude and direction of the displacement of a wave packet are determined by Chern numbers of the populated energy bands and by the interband transitions induced by two-body interactions. As a case example we explore a separable potential created by optical lattices whose constitutive sublattices undergo relative motion in the orthogonal directions. For such potentials, obeying parity-time symmetry, fractional Chern numbers, computed over half period of the evolution, acquire relevance. We focus mainly on solitonic scenarios, showing that one-soliton pumping occurs at relatively small as well as at sufficiently large amplitudes of the initial wave packet, while at intermediate amplitudes the transport is multisolitonic. We also describe peculiarities of the pumping characterized by two different commensurate periods of the modulations of the lattices in the orthogonal directions.

Two-dimensional Thouless pumping in time-space crystalline structures

Dynamics of particle in a resonantly driven quantum well can be interpreted as that of a particle in a crystal-like structure, with the time playing the role of the coordinate. By introducing an adiabatically varied phase in the driving protocol, we demonstrate a realization of the Thouless pumping in such a time crystalline structure. Next, we extend the analysis beyond a single quantum well by considering a driven one-dimensional optical lattice, thereby engineering a 2D time-space crystalline structure. Such a setup allows us to explore adiabatic pumping in the spatial and the temporal dimensions separately, as well as to simulate simultaneous time-space pumping.

Broadband and Fabrication Tolerant Power Coupling and Mode‐Order Conversion Using Thouless Pumping Mechanism

AbstractCoupled‐waveguide devices are of central importance in on‐chip photonic circuits. However, their performance usually suffers from high wavelength and structure sensitivity, which makes it challenging to achieve broadband and fabrication tolerant optical functions. Topological pumping of edge states has emerged as a promising route for robust light transport in coupled waveguides. Here, the Thouless pumping process is explored in finite Rice‐Mele modeled silicon waveguide arrays and the robust power coupling and mode‐order conversion are experimentally demonstrated in this system. Thanks to the topological protection of light transport, the directional coupler and mode‐order converter based on the waveguide arrays show an ultrabroad bandwidth of 120 nm and are quite tolerant to significant structural deviations (−50–150 nm). As compared to the robust optical coupling in other topological waveguide arrays reported in recent works, the approach is more advantageous in terms of robustness against the variations in both waveguide width and gap distance, which is greatly favored in large‐scale photonic integration. This work could serve as a design principle for a new class of broadband and fabrication tolerant coupled‐waveguide devices, which can find applications in many fields including optical simulations of condensed matter physics, on‐chip optical communications, and quantum information processing.

Non-Abelian Thouless pumping in photonic waveguides

Non-Abelian Thouless pumping in photonic waveguides

Thouless pumping of light with a twist

Thouless pumping of light with a twist

An ideal rapid-cycle Thouless pump

Thouless pumping is a fundamental instance of quantized transport, which is topologically protected. Although its theoretical importance, the adiabaticity condition is an obstacle for further practical applications. Here, focusing on the Rice-Mele model, we provide a family of finite-frequency examples that ensure both the absence of excitations and the perfect quantization of the pumped charge at the end of each cycle. This family, which contains an adiabatic protocol as a limiting case, is obtained through a mapping onto the zero curvature representation of the Euclidean sinh-Gordon equation.

Optical Thouless pumping transport and nonlinear switching in a topological low-dimensional discrete nematic liquid crystal array

We theoretically investigate a Thouless pumping scheme in the 1D topological Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) model for single and multiple band-gaps systems when implemented in a discrete nematic liquid crystal arrangement. For an electrically controlled SSH waveguide array, we numerically demonstrate edge-to-edge light transport at low power levels. On the other hand, at higher powers, the transport is frustrated by light-induced nonlinear defect states, giving rise to robust all-optical switching.

Topological pumping in acoustic waveguide arrays with hopping modulation

Thouless pumping is the adiabatic transportation of quantized charge, which is regarded as the dynamic version of the quantum Hall effect. Here we propose the design of an acoustic system to demonstrate the topological pumping characterized by transporting acoustic energy from one side to the opposite. The system is composed of coupled acoustic waveguide arrays with modulated coupling along both cross-sections and the propagating direction. We explore multiple topological phases by introducing rich spatial frequency or enlarged range of the hopping modulation. Such distinct topological phases are evidenced by adiabatic evolution of the edge states, where the acoustic system varies continuously and slowly along the state propagating direction. The robustness behavior of the edge states transport is also verified with numerical simulations to imply their topology origin. Our work provides a route to realize topological phases and utilize the corresponding edge states in waveguide arrays that can lead to versatile acoustic wave manipulation applications.

Rapid-cycle Thouless pumping in a one-dimensional optical lattice

An adiabatic cycle around a degeneracy point in the parameter space of a one-dimensional band insulator is known to result in an integer valued noiseless particle transport in the thermodynamic limit. Recently, it was shown that in the case of an infinite bipartite lattice the adiabatic Thouless protocol can be continuously deformed into a fine tuned finite-frequency cycle preserving the properties of noiseless quantized transport. In this paper, we numerically investigate the implementation of such an ideal rapid-cycle Thouless pumping protocol in a one-dimensional optical lattice. It is shown that the rapidity will cause first order corrections due to next-to-nearest-neighbour hopping and second order corrections due to the addition of a harmonic potential. Lastly, the quantization of the change in center of mass of the particle distribution is investigated, and shown to have corrections in the first order of the potential curvature.

Elastic topological pumping for surface acoustic waves

This talk is concerned with Thouless pumping of topological states for surface acoustic waves (SAW). We first designed an elastic waveguide analog of high-index optical fiber, that supports highly confined surface acoustic modes with controllable acoustic index. The “elastic fiber” is made of a silica waveguide embedded in a silicon substrate at the surface, which enables the existence of elastic modes propagating on the surface of the substrate, while being confined along the silica waveguide. The evanescent field outside the silica waveguide can be controlled via the geometrical dimensions of the waveguide which directly affects the coupling between adjacent waveguides. We then constructed a topological structure made of a finite number of elastic waveguides that support topological elastic states, and modulated the coupling between the silica waveguides to demonstrate for the first time Thouless pumping for SAW.

Uncovering band topology via quantized drift in two-dimensional Bloch oscillations

We propose to measure band topology via quantized drift of Bloch oscillations in a two-dimensional Harper-Hofstadter lattice subjected to tilted fields in both directions. When the difference between the two tilted fields is large, Bloch oscillations uniformly sample all momenta, and hence the displacement in each direction tends to be quantized at multiples of the overall period, regardless of any momentum of initial state. The quantized displacement is related to a reduced Chern number defined as a line integral of Berry curvature in each direction, providing an almost perfect measurement of Chern number. Our scheme can apply to detect Chern number and topological phase transitions not only for the energy-separable band, but also for energy-inseparable bands which cannot be achieved by conventional Thouless pumping or integer quantum Hall effect.

Quantized nonlinear Thouless pumping.

The topological protection of wave transport, originally observed in the context of the quantum Hall effect in two-dimensional electron gases1, has been shown to apply broadly to a range of physical platforms, including photonics2-5, ultracold atoms in optical lattices6-8 and others9-12. That said, the behaviour of such systems can be very different from the electronic case, particularly when interparticle interactions or nonlinearity play a major role13-22. A Thouless pump23 is a one-dimensional model that captures the topological quantization of transport in the quantum Hall effect using the notion of dimensional reduction: an adiabatically, time-varying potential mathematically maps onto a momentum coordinate in a conceptual second dimension24-34. Importantly, quantization assumes uniformly filled electron bands below a Fermi energy, or an equivalent occupation for non-equilibrium bosonic systems. Here we theoretically propose and experimentally demonstrate quantized nonlinear Thouless pumping of photons with a band that is decidedly not uniformly occupied. In our system, nonlinearity acts to quantize transport via soliton formation and spontaneous symmetry-breaking bifurcations. Quantization follows from the fact that the instantaneous soliton solutions centred upon a given unit cell are identical after each pump cycle, up to translation invariance; this is an entirely different mechanism from traditional Thouless pumping. This result shows that nonlinearity and interparticle interactions can induce quantized transport and topological behaviour without a linear counterpart.

Non-Abelian Thouless pumping in a photonic lattice

Non-Abelian gauge fields emerge naturally in the description of adiabatically evolving quantum systems having degenerate levels. Here we show that they also play a role in Thouless pumping in the presence of degenerate bands. To this end we consider a photonic Lieb lattice having two degenerate nondispersive modes and show that, when the lattice parameters are slowly modulated, the propagation of the photons bears the fingerprints of the underlying non-Abelian gauge structure. The nondispersive character of the bands enables a high degree of control on photon propagation. Our work paves the way to the generation and detection of non-Abelian gauge fields in photonic and optical lattices.

First-Principles Demonstration of Nonadiabatic Thouless Pumping of Electrons in a Molecular System.

We demonstrate nonadiabatic Thouless pumping of electrons in trans-polyacetylene in the framework of Floquet engineering using first-principles theory. We identify the regimes in which the quantized pump is operative with respect to the driving electric field for a time-dependent Hamiltonian. By employing the time-dependent maximally localized Wannier functions in real-time time-dependent density functional theory simulation, we connect the winding number, a topological invariant, to a molecular-level understanding of the quantized pumping. While the pumping dynamics constitutes the opposing movement of the Wannier functions that represent both double and single bonds, the resulting current is unidirectional due to the greater number of double-bond electrons. Using a gauge-invariant formulation called dynamical transition orbitals, an alternative viewpoint on the nonequilibrium dynamics is obtained in terms of the particle-hole excitation. A single time-dependent transition orbital is found to be largely responsible for the observed quantized pumping. In this representation, the pumping dynamics manifests itself in the dynamics of this single orbital as it undergoes changes from its π bonding orbital character at equilibrium to acquiring resonance and antibonding character in the driving cycle. The work demonstrates the Floquet engineering of the nonadiabatic topological state in an extended molecular system, paving the way for experimental realization of the new quantum material phase.

Competition and interplay between topology and quasi-periodic disorder in Thouless pumping of ultracold atoms

Robustness against perturbations lies at the heart of topological phenomena. If, however, a perturbation such as disorder becomes dominant, it may cause a topological phase transition between topologically non-trivial and trivial phases. Here we experimentally reveal the competition and interplay between topology and quasi-periodic disorder in a Thouless pump realized with ultracold atoms in an optical lattice, by creating a quasi-periodic potential from weak to strong regimes in a controllable manner. We demonstrate a disorder-induced pumping in which the presence of quasi-periodic disorder can induce a non-trivial pump for a specific pumping sequence, while no pump is observed in the clean limit. Our highly controllable system, which can also straightforwardly incorporate interatomic interaction, could be a unique platform for studying various disorder-related novel effects in a wide range of topological quantum phenomena.

Geometrical formulation of adiabatic pumping as a heat engine

We investigate a heat engine under an adiabatic (Thouless) pumping process. In this process, the extracted work and lower bound on dissipated availability are characterized by a vector potential and a Riemannian metric tensor, respectively. We derive a trade-off relation between the power and effective efficiency. We also explicitly calculate the trade-off relation as well as the power and effective efficiency for a spin-boson model coupled to two reservoirs.

Topological beam splitter via defect-induced edge channel in the Rice-Mele model

Topological pumping has numerous applications in quantum information processing, e.g., the spatial entanglement distribution of the two correlated particles via the disordered bulk channel in the modulated Rice-Mele model [Phys. Rev. A 101, 052323 (2020)]. This spatial entanglement distribution actually indicates that, via the bulk Thouless pumping channel assisted by the disorder, the particle initially prepared at the middle site can be pumped towards the two-end sites with the approximately equal probability, which exhibits the latent possibility to implement the topological split-flow device, such as the topological beam splitter. However, the introduction of the disorder inevitably destroys the correlation of the phase at two-end sites, which is crucial for the applications of the topological beam splitters. To handle it, here we induce a topological interface via introducing the defect into the nearest-neighbor (NN) hopping of the Rice-Mele model, which can be further treated as a topological edge channel to implement the topological edge pumping. We show that, based on this topological edge channel, the particle initially prepared at the middle site can also be transferred into two-end sites with the approximately equal probability, implying the fact of implementing the topological beam splitter by the defect-induced topological edge channel. Significantly, compared with the topological beam splitter assisted via the disordered bulk channel, the topological beam splitter assisted by the defect-induced topological interface cannot destroy the correlation of the phase at two-end sites, even when the very slight on-site disorder or relatively large NN disorder is added into the system. Our scheme provides a perspective to implement the quantum information processing and prepare the quantum optical devices based on the topological edge pumping.

Two-Dimensional Thouless Pumping of Ultracold Fermions in Obliquely Introduced Optical Superlattice

We propose a two-dimensional (2D) version of Thouless pumping that can be realized by using ultracold atoms in optical lattices. To be specific, we consider a 2D square lattice tight-binding model with an obliquely introduced superlattice. It is demonstrated that quantized particle transport occurs in this system, and that the transport is expressed as a solution of a Diophantine equation. This topological nature can be understood by mapping the Hamiltonian to a three-dimensional (3D) cubic lattice model with a homogeneous magnetic field. We also propose a continuum model with obliquely introduced superlattice and obtain the amount of pumping by calculating the Berry curvature. For this model, the same Diophantine equation can be derived from the plane-wave approximation. Furthermore, we investigate the effect of a harmonic trap by solving the time-dependent Schr\"odinger equation. Under a harmonic trap potential, as often used in cold atom experiments, we show, by numerical simulations, that nearly quantized pumping occurs when the phase of the superlattice potential is driven at a moderate speed. Also, we find that two regions appear, the Hofstadter region and the rectifying region, depending on the modulation amplitude of the superlattice potential. In the rectifying region with larger modulation amplitudes, we uncover that the pumping direction is restricted to exactly the $x$-axis or the $y$-axis direction. This difference in these two regions causes a crossover behavior, characterizing the effect of the harmonic trap.

Thouless pumping in disordered photonic systems

Thouless charge pumping protocols provide a route for one-dimensional systems to realize topological transport. Here, using arrays of evanescently coupled optical waveguides, we experimentally demonstrate bulk Thouless pumping in the presence of disorder. The degree of pumping is quite tolerant to significant deviations from adiabaticity as well as the addition of system disorder until the disorder is sufficiently strong to reduce the bulk mobility gap of the system to be on the scale of the modulation frequency of the system. Moreover, we show that this approach realizes near-full-unit-cell transport per pump cycle for a physically relevant class of localized initial system excitations. Thus, temporally pumped systems can potentially be used as a design principle for a new class of modulated slow-light devices that are resistant to system disorder.

Observation of topological transport quantization by dissipation in fast Thouless pumps

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.