arXiv subjects

Li-Jun Lang

Publications and source records attributed to Li-Jun Lang.

28 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2018

Topologically Enhanced Harmonic Generation in a Nonlinear Transmission Line Metamaterial

Nonlinear transmission lines (NLTLs) are nonlinear electronic circuits commonly used for parametric amplification and pulse generation. It has previously been shown that harmonic generation can be enhanced, and shock waves suppressed, in so-called "left-handed" NLTLs, a manifestation of the unique properties of left-handed media. Here, we demonstrate that harmonic generation in a left-handed NLTL can be greatly increased by the presence of a topological edge state. Our NLTL is a nonlinear analogue of the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) lattice. Recent studies of nonlinear SSH circuits have investigated the solitonic and self-focusing behaviors of modes at the fundamental harmonic. We find, however, that frequency-mixing processes in an SSH NLTL have important effects that have previously been neglected. The presence of a topological edge mode at the first harmonic can produce strong higher-harmonic signals that propagate into the lattice, acting as an effectively nonlocal cross-phase nonlinearity. We observe maximum third-harmonic signal intensities that are 5 times that of a comparable left-handed NLTL of a conventional design, and a 250-fold intensity contrast between the topologically nontrivial and trivial lattice configurations. Our work may have applications for compact electronic frequency generators, as well as for advancing the fundamental understanding of the effects of nonlinearities on topological states.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Effects of Non-Hermiticity on Su-Schrieffer-Heeger Defect States

We study the emergence and disappearance of defect states in the complex Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (cSSH) model, a non-Hermitian one-dimensional lattice model containing gain and loss on alternating sites. Previous studies of this model have focused on the existence of a non-Hermitian defect state that is localized to the interface between two cSSH domains, and is continuable to the topologically protected defect state of the Hermitian Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) model. For large gain/loss magnitudes, we find that these defect states can disappear into the continuum, or undergo pairwise spontaneous breaking of a composite sublattice/time-reversal symmetry. The symmetry-breaking transition gives rise to a pair of defect states continuable to non-topologically-protected defect states of the SSH model. We discuss the phase diagram for the defect states, and its implications for non-Hermitian defect states.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Non-Hermitian dynamics of slowly-varying Hamiltonians

We develop a theoretical description of non-Hermitian time evolution that accounts for the break- down of the adiabatic theorem. We obtain closed-form expressions for the time-dependent state amplitudes, involving the complex eigen-energies as well as inter-band Berry connections calculated using basis sets from appropriately-chosen Schur decompositions. Using a two-level system as an example, we show that our theory accurately captures the phenomenon of "sudden transitions", where the system state abruptly jumps from one eigenstate to another.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

Weyl points and topological nodal superfluids in a face-centered cubic optical lattice

We point out that a face-centered cubic (FCC) optical lattice, which can be realised by a simple scheme using three lasers, provides one a highly controllable platform for creating Weyl points and topological nodal superfluids in ultracold atoms. In non-interacting systems, Weyl points automatically arise in the Floquet band structure when shaking such FCC lattices, and sophisticated design of the tunnelling is not required. More interestingly, in the presence of attractive interaction between two hyperfine spin states, which experience the same shaken FCC lattice, a three-dimensional topological nodal superfluid emerges, and Weyl points show up as the gapless points in the quasiparticle spectrum. One could either create a double Weyl point of charge 2, or split it to two Weyl points of charge 1, which can be moved in the momentum space by tuning the interactions. Correspondingly, the Fermi arcs at the surface may be linked with each other or separated as individual ones.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2016

Nodal Brillouin Zone Boundary from Folding a Chern Insulator

Chern insulator is a building block of many topological quantum matters, ranging from quantum spin Hall insulators to fractional Chern insulators. Here, we discuss a new type of insulator, which consists of two half filled ordinary Chern insulators. On the one hand, the bulk energy spectrum is obtained from folding that of either Chern insulator. Such folding gives rise to a nodal boundary of the Brillouin zone, at which the band crossing is protected by the symmetries of the two-dimensional lattice that is invariant under combined transformations in the spatial and the spin space. It also provides one a natural platform to explore the non-abelian Berry curvature and the resultant quantum phenomena. On the other hand, these two underlying Chern insulators are distinguished from each other by nonsymmorphic operators, which lead to intriguing properties absent in conventional Chern insulators. A new degree of freedom, the parity of the nonsymmorphic symmetry, needs to be introduced for describing the topological pumping, if the edge respects the nonsymmorphic symmetry.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2015

Chiral d-wave superfluid in periodically driven lattices

Chiral d-wave superfluid is a preliminary example of topological matters that intrinsically encodes interaction effects. It exhibits fascinating properties including a finite Chern number in the bulk and topologically protected edge states, which have been invoking physicists for decades. However, unlike s-wave superfluids prevalent in nature, its existence requires a strong interaction in the d-wave channel, a criterion that is difficult to access in ordinary systems. So far, such an unconventional superfluid has not been discovered in experiments. Here, we present a new principle for creating a two-dimensional chiral d-wave superfluid using periodically driven lattices. Due to an imprinted two-dimensional pseudospin-orbit coupling, where the sublattice index serves as the pseudospin, s-wave interaction between two hyperfine spin states naturally creates a chiral d-wave superfluid. This scheme also allows physicists to study the phase transition between the topologically distinct s- and d-wave superfluids by controlling the driving field or the particle density.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2013

Topological superconductor to Anderson localization transition in one-dimensional incommensurate lattices

We study the competition of disorder and superconductivity for a one-dimensional p-wave superconductor in incommensurate potentials. With the increase in the strength of the incommensurate potential, the system undergoes a transition from a topological superconducting phase to a topologically trivial localized phase. The phase boundary is determined both numerically and analytically from various aspects and the topological superconducting phase is characterized by the presence of Majorana edge fermions in the system with open boundary conditions. We also calculate the topological $Z_2$ invariant of the bulk system and find it can be used to distinguish the different topological phases even for a disordered system.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2013

Topologically protected mid-gap states induced by impurity in one-dimensional superlattices

Based on the discovery of the nontrivial topology of one-dimensional superlattices, we show that midgap states will emerge in such systems induced by a single on-site impurity. Besides the trivial bound state located at the impurity site, these midgap states are localized at the adjacent sides of the impurity, carrying the information of the topology and behaving like the effect of the open boundary conditions in the limit of a large attractive or repulsive impurity potential. Using this feature, the impurity can be used to detect the topology of the superlattice system and to realize the adiabatic pumping between the opposite sides of the impurity in cold-atom experiments or in photonic crystals.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2012

Majorana fermions in density modulated p-wave superconducting wires

We study the p-wave superconducting wire with a periodically modulated chemical potential and show that the Majorana edge states are robust against the periodic modulation. We find that the critical amplitude of modulated potential, at which the Majorana edge fermions and topological phase disappear, strongly depends on the phase shifts. For some specific values of the phase shift, the critical amplitude tends to infinity. The existence of Majorana edge fermions in the open chain can be characterized by a topological $Z_2$ invariant of the bulk system, which can be applied to determine the phase boundary between the topologically trivial and nontrivial superconducting phases. We also demonstrate the existence of the zero-energy peak in the spectral function of the topological superconducting phase, which is only sensitive to the open boundary condition but robust against the disorder.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2012

Edge states and topological phases in one-dimensional optical superlattices

We show that one-dimensional quasi-periodic optical lattice systems can exhibit edge states and topological phases which are generally believed to appear in two-dimensional systems. When the Fermi energy lies in gaps, the Fermi system on the optical superlattice is a topological insulator characterized by a nonzero topological invariant. The topological nature can be revealed by observing the density profile of a trapped fermion system, which displays plateaus with their positions uniquely determined by the ration of wavelengths of the bichromatic optical lattice. The butterfly-like spectrum of the superlattice system can be also determined from the finite-temperature density profiles of the trapped fermion system. This finding opens an alternative avenue to study the topological phases and Hofstadter-like spectrum in one-dimensional optical lattices.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗