Classifying experimental image data often requires manual identification of qualitative features, which is difficult to automate. Existing automated approaches based on deep convolutional neural networks can achieve accuracy comparable to human class
ifiers, but require extensive training data and computational resources. Here we show that the emerging framework of topological data analysis can be used to rapidly and reliably identify qualitative features in image data, enabling their classification using easily-interpretable linear models. Specifically, we consider the task of identifying dark solitons using a freely-available dataset of 6257 labelled Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) density images. We use point summaries of the images topological features -- their persistent entropy and lifetime $p$-norms -- to train logistic regression models. The models attain performance comparable to neural networks using a fraction of the training data, classifying images 30 times faster.
The machine learning technique of persistent homology classifies complex systems or datasets by computing their topological features over a range of characteristic scales. There is growing interest in applying persistent homology to characterize phys
ical systems such as spin models and multiqubit entangled states. Here we propose persistent homology as a tool for characterizing and optimizing band structures of periodic photonic media. Using the honeycomb photonic lattice Haldane model as an example, we show how persistent homology is able to reliably classify a variety of band structures falling outside the usual paradigms of topological band theory, including moat band and multi-valley dispersion relations, and thereby control the properties of quantum emitters embedded in the lattice. The method is promising for the automated design of more complex systems such as photonic crystals and Moire superlattices.
We analyze the modulational instability of nonlinear Bloch waves in topological photonic lattices. In the initial phase of the instability development captured by the linear stability analysis, long wavelength instabilities and bifurcations of the no
nlinear Bloch waves are sensitive to topological band
Topological photonics has emerged as a novel paradigm for the design of electromagnetic systems from microwaves to nanophotonics. Studies to date have largely focused on the demonstration of fundamental concepts, such as non-reciprocity and waveguidi
ng protected against fabrication disorder. Moving forward, there is a pressing need to identify applications where topological designs can lead to useful improvements in device performance. Here we review applications of topological photonics to ring resonator-based systems, including one- and two-dimensional resonator arrays, and dynamically-modulated resonators. We evaluate potential applications such as quantum light generation, disorder-robust delay lines, and optical isolation, as well as future research directions and open problems that need to be addressed.
Topological invariants characterising filled Bloch bands attract enormous interest, underpinning electronic topological insulators and analogous artificial lattices for Bose-Einstein condensates, photons, and acoustic waves. In the latter bosonic sys
tems there is no Fermi exclusion principle to enforce uniform band filling, which makes measurement of their bulk topological invariants challenging. Here we show how to achieve controllable filling of bosonic bands using leaky photonic lattices. Leaky photonic lattices host transitions between bound and radiative modes at a critical energy, which plays a role analogous to the electronic Fermi level. Tuning this effective Fermi level into a band gap results in disorder-robust dynamical quantization of bulk topological invariants such as the Chern number. Our findings establish leaky lattices as a novel and highly flexible platform for exploring topological and non-Hermitian wave physics.
We analyze planar electromagnetic waves confined by a slab waveguide formed by two perfect electrical conductors. Remarkably, 2D Maxwell equations describing transverse electromagnetic modes in such waveguides are exactly mapped onto equations for ac
oustic waves in fluids or gases. We show that interfaces between two slab waveguides with opposite-sign permeabilities support 1D edge modes, analogous to surface acoustic plasmons at interfaces with opposite-sign mass densities. We analyze this novel type of edge modes for the cases of isotropic media and anisotropic media with tensor permeabilities (including hyperbolic media). We also take into account `non-Hermitian edge modes with imaginary frequencies or/and propagation constants. Our theoretical predictions are feasible for optical and microwave experiments involving 2D metamaterials.
The linear diamond chain with fine-tuned effective magnetic flux has a completely flat energy spectrum and compactly-localized eigenmodes, forming an Aharonov-Bohm cage. We study numerically how this localization is affected by different types of dis
order (static and time-evolving) relevant to recent realizations of Aharonov-Bohm cages in periodically-modulated optical waveguide arrays. We demonstrate robustness of localization under static and periodically-evolving disorder, while in contrast non-quenched (time-dependent) disorder leads to wavepacket spreading and delocalization.
We analyze propagation of acoustic vortex beams in longitudinal synthetic magnetic fields. We show how to generate two field configurations using a fluid contained in circulating cylinders: a uniform synthetic magnetic field hosting Laguerre-Gauss mo
des, and an Aharonov-Bohm flux tube hosting Bessel beams. For non-paraxial beams we find qualitative differences from the well-studied case of electron vortex beams in magnetic fields, arising due to the vectorial nature of the acoustic waves velocity field. In particular, the pressure and velocity components of the acoustic wave can be individually sensitive to the relative sign of the beam orbital angular momentum and the magnetic field. Our findings illustrate how analogies between optical, electron, and acoustic vortex beams can break down in the presence of external vector potentials.
We experimentally realize a photonic analogue of the anomalous quantum Hall insulator using a two-dimensional (2D) array of coupled ring resonators. Similar to the Haldane model, our 2D array is translation invariant, has zero net gauge flux threadin
g the lattice, and exploits next-nearest neighbor couplings to achieve a topologically non-trivial bandgap. Using direct imaging and on-chip transmission measurements, we show that the bandgap hosts topologically robust edge states. We demonstrate a topological phase transition to a conventional insulator by frequency detuning the ring resonators and thereby breaking the inversion symmetry of the lattice. Furthermore, the clockwise or the counter-clockwise circulation of photons in the ring resonators constitutes a pseudospin degree of freedom. We show that the two pseudospins acquire opposite hopping phases and their respective edge states propagate in opposite directions. These results are promising for the development of robust reconfigurable integrated nanophotonic devices for applications in classical and quantum information processing.
We study nonlinear effects in two-dimensional photonic metasurfaces supporting topologically-protected helical edge states at the nanoscale. We observe strong third-harmonic generation mediated by optical nonlinearities boosted by multipolar Mie reso
nances of silicon nanoparticles. Variation of the pump-beam wavelength enables independent high-contrast imaging of either bulk modes or spin-momentum-locked edge states. We demonstrate topology-driven tunable localization of the generated harmonic fields and map the pseudospin-dependent unidirectional waveguiding of the edge states bypassing sharp corners. Our observations establish dielectric metasurfaces as a promising platform for the robust generation and transport of photons in topological photonic nanostructures.
