Many-body symmetry-protected zero boundary modes of synthetic photo-magnonic crystals

Abstract

The topological classification of insulators and superconductors, the "ten-fold way", is grounded on fermionic many-body symmetries and has had a dramatic impact on many fields of physics. Therefore, it seems equally important to investigate a similar approach for bosons as tightly analogous to the fermionic prototype as possible. There are, however, several obstacles coming from the fundamental physical differences between fermions and bosons. Here, we propose a theory of free boson topology (topological classification and bulk-boundary correspondence) protected by bosonic many-body symmetry operations, namely, squeezing transformations, particle number, and bosonic time reversal. We identify two symmetry classes that are topologically non-trivial in one dimension. They include key models like the bosonic Kitaev chain, protected by a squeezing symmetry within our framework, and the celebrated bosonic SSH model, protected by a squeezing symmetry and particle number. To provide a robust experimental platform for testing our theory, we introduce a new quantum meta-material: photo-magnonic crystals. They are remarkable for their experimental flexibility and natural affinity for displaying band topological physics at microwave frequencies. We engineer a many-body symmetry-protected topological photo-magnonic chain with boundary modes mandated by a Pfaffian invariant. Using an electromagnetic finite-element modelling, we simulate its reflection and transmission and identify experimental signatures of its boundary modes. The experimental tuning of the crystal to its symmetry-protected topological phase is also addressed. Our modelling of the photo-magnonic chain provides a thorough blueprint for its experimental realisation and the unambiguous observation of its exotic physics.