Experimental observation of Weyl points

The massless solutions to the Dirac equation are described by the so-called Weyl Hamiltonian. The Weyl equation requires a particle to have linear dispersion in all three dimensions while being doubly degenerate at a single momentum point. These Weyl points are topological monopoles of quantized Ber...

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Veröffentlicht in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2015-08, Vol.349 (6248), p.622-624
Hauptverfasser: Lu, Ling, Wang, Zhiyu, Ye, Dexin, Ran, Lixin, Fu, Liang, Joannopoulos, John D., Soljačić, Marin
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Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:The massless solutions to the Dirac equation are described by the so-called Weyl Hamiltonian. The Weyl equation requires a particle to have linear dispersion in all three dimensions while being doubly degenerate at a single momentum point. These Weyl points are topological monopoles of quantized Berry flux exhibiting numerous unusual properties. We performed angle-resolved microwave transmission measurements through a double-gyroid photonic crystal with inversion-breaking where Weyl points have been theoretically predicted to occur. The excited bulk states show two linear dispersion bands touching at four isolated points in the three-dimensional Brillouin zone, indicating the observation of Weyl points. This work paves the way to a variety of photonic topological phenomena in three dimensions.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.aaa9273