Classifying Topology via Edge-State Pure Thermalization
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Abstract
Repeated-interaction machines distinguish heat-like from work-like resources through the steady states they generate, but whether topology can control this distinction remains unknown. Here we reveal the role of topology in the process by showing that topological edge states can act as pure-thermalization fuels. For an open Su-Schrieffer-Heeger chain used as the fuel source of a micromaser, edge eigenstates suppress both displacement and squeezing and drive the cavity to a Gibbs state, whereas bulk eigenstates activate coherent channels and yield thermo-mechanical operation. This edge-bulk thermodynamic dichotomy remains robust under realistic decoherence, cavity loss, bond disorder, and moderate onsite disorder. We further design a superconducting implementation in which a sixteen-site SSH eigenstate is deterministically compressed into a four-qubit fuel register. The resulting cavity response provides a transport-free classifier of topology and identifies a topology-thermodynamics link that extends beyond cavity-QED to repeated-interaction settings more generally.