Non-Abelian Tensor Berry Connections in Multiband Topological Systems

Topological Electromagnetic Effects and Higher Second Chern Numbers in Four-Dimensional Gapped Phases

Higher-dimensional topological phases play a key role in understanding the lower-dimensional topological phases and the related topological responses through a dimensional reduction procedure. In this work, we present a Dirac-type model of four-dimensional Z_{2} topological insulator (TI) protected by CP symmetry, whose 3D boundary supports an odd number of Dirac cones. A specific perturbation splits each bulk massive Dirac cone into two valleys separated in energy-momentum space with opposite second Chern numbers, in which the 3D boundary modes become a nodal sphere or a Weyl semimetallic phase. By introducing the electromagnetic (EM) and pseudo-EM fields, exotic topological responses of our 4D system are revealed, which are found to be described by the (4+1)D mixed Chern-Simons theories in the low-energy regime. Notably, several topological phase transitions occur from a CP-broken Z_{2} TI to a Z TI when the bulk gap closes by giving rise to exotic double-nodal-line or nodal-hyper-torus gapless phases. Finally, we propose to probe experimentally these topological effects in cold atoms.

A synthetic monopole source of Kalb-Ramond field in diamond

Magnetic monopoles play a central role in areas of physics that range from electromagnetism to topological matter. String theory promotes conventional vector gauge fields of electrodynamics to tensor gauge fields and predicts the existence of more exotic tensor monopoles. Here, we report the synthesis of a tensor monopole in a four-dimensional parameter space defined by the spin degrees of freedom of a single solid-state defect in diamond. Using two complementary methods, we characterized the tensor monopole by measuring its quantized topological charge and its emanating Kalb-Ramond field. By introducing a fictitious external field that breaks chiral symmetry, we further observed an intriguing spectral transition, characterized by spectral rings protected by mirror symmetries. Our work demonstrates the possibility of emulating exotic topological structures inspired by string theory.

Phonons as a platform for non-Abelian braiding and its manifestation in layered silicates

Topological phases of matter have revolutionised the fundamental understanding of band theory and hold great promise for next-generation technologies such as low-power electronics or quantum computers. Single-gap topologies have been extensively explored, and a large number of materials have been theoretically proposed and experimentally observed. These ideas have recently been extended to multi-gap topologies with band nodes that carry non-Abelian charges, characterised by invariants that arise by the momentum space braiding of such nodes. However, the constraints placed by the Fermi-Dirac distribution to electronic systems have so far prevented the experimental observation of multi-gap topologies in real materials. Here, we show that multi-gap topologies and the accompanying phase transitions driven by braiding processes can be readily observed in the bosonic phonon spectra of known monolayer silicates. The associated braiding process can be controlled by means of an electric field and epitaxial strain, and involves, for the first time, more than three bands. Finally, we propose that the band inversion processes at the Γ point can be tracked by following the evolution of the Raman spectrum, providing a clear signature for the experimental verification of the band inversion accompanied by the braiding process.