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Observation of dynamical phase transitions in a topological nanomechanical system

Tian Tian, Yongguan Ke, Liang Zhang, Shaochun Lin, Zhifu Shi, Pu Huang, Chaohong Lee, and Jiangfeng Du
Phys. Rev. B 100, 024310 – Published 25 July 2019

Abstract

Dynamical phase transitions (DPTs), characterized by nonanalytic behaviors in time domain, extend the equilibrium phase transitions to far-from-equilibrium situations. It has been predicted that DPTs can be precisely identified by the discontinuities of the Pancharatnam geometric phase (PGP) during the time evolution. However, PGP always mixes with dynamical phase and the experimental observation of DPTs by PGP is still absent. Here, we theoretically present a novel scheme for eliminating the dynamical phase by taking advantage of chiral symmetry in the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) model and experimentally observe DPTs by directly measuring PGP in a quenched topological nanomechanical lattice. Time-dependent topological structures of the SSH model are configured by eight strong-coupled high-quality-factor nanomechanical oscillators. By measuring the vibration phase and the normalized amplitude of the edge oscillator, we show a direct classical analog of DPTs. Furthermore, we experimentally demonstrate the robustness of DPTs against weak structure disorders, and numerically explore the relation between DPTs and the equilibrium phase boundary. This work not only establishes the quantitative method to identify DPTs, but also opens the door for studying nonequilibrium topological dynamics with a well-controlled nanomechanical system.

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  • Received 15 October 2018
  • Revised 9 July 2019

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.100.024310

©2019 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Tian Tian1,2, Yongguan Ke3,4, Liang Zhang1,2, Shaochun Lin1,2, Zhifu Shi1,2,5, Pu Huang6, Chaohong Lee3,4,*, and Jiangfeng Du1,2,5,†

  • 1CAS Key Laboratory of Microscale Magnetic Resonance and Department of Modern Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
  • 2Synergetic Innovation Center of Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
  • 3Laboratory of Quantum Engineering and Quantum Metrology, School of Physics and Astronomy, Sun Yat-Sen University (Zhuhai Campus), Zhuhai 519082, China
  • 4State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, Sun Yat-Sen University (Guangzhou Campus), Guangzhou 510275, China
  • 5Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
  • 6National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Department of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China

  • *lichaoh2@mail.sysu.edu.cn
  • djf@ustc.edu.cn

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Issue

Vol. 100, Iss. 2 — 1 July 2019

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