Nash, Lisa - University of Chicago

Topological mechanics of gyroscopic metamaterials

Topologically protected states can arise in electronic systems with broken time-reversal symmetry. We present a classical mechanical model composed of gyroscopes in which broken time-reversal symmetry gives rise to topologically protected edge-modes, analogous to the edge modes in the quantum Hall effect. We will discuss numerical and experimental observations of these chiral edge-modes, their topological characterization, robustness and broader phenomenology. (Authors: Lisa M. Nash, Dustin Kleckner, Alismari Read, Vincenzo Vitelli, William T.M. Irvine)