Aspects of Topological Photonics (Prof. M. Rechtsman)

Even disorder cannot change these invariants, making the materials’ properties inherently robust. But this topological protection is not unique to electrons or even quantum mechanics – in fact, it is a general wave phenomenon that can be applied in a variety of physical systems. Here, I will present our realization of a photonic topological insulator. Using this, I will show that phenomena that could never be observed in the solid-state can be observed using light: examples include a two-dimensional topological quasicrystal and the `topological Anderson insulator phase’. 

Furthermore, I will show that the energies of photonic defect modes can be protected in two dimensions using states akin to Majorana modes. The goal of this new field of ‘topological photonics’ is to show that topology can be used to protect fragile states of light in a range of optical devices.