Edge states and topological pumping in stiffness-modulated elastic plates

Abstract

The authors demonstrate the existence of edge states in elastic plates with spatial modulations of stiffness. They show that smooth variations of the phase of the modulation profile along one spatial dimension produces a transition of the edge states from one edge to another, thus implementing a ``topological pump.'' The results on a mechanical substrate open new pathways for the efficient transfer of information through topological protection, for the general investigation of topological phases of matter relying on continuous property modulations, and for the pursuit of topology-based waveguiding relying on slow modulations along a second dimension, spatial or temporal.

Topics & Concepts