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Abstract We prove that if the boundary of a topological insulator divides the plane into two regions, each containing arbitrarily large balls, then it acts as a conductor. Conversely, we construct a counterexample to show that topological insulators that fit within strips do not need to admit conducting boundary modes. This constitutes a new setup where the bulk-edge correspondence is violated. Our proof relies on a seemingly paradoxical and underappreciated property of the bulk indices of topological insulators: they are global quantities that can be locally computed.
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Chiral edge waves in a dance-based human topological insulator
Topological insulators are insulators in the bulk but feature chiral energy propagation along the boundary. This property is topological in nature and therefore robust to disorder. Originally discovered in electronic materials, topologically protected boundary transport has since been observed in many other physical systems. Thus, it is natural to ask whether this phenomenon finds relevance in a broader context. We choreograph a dance in which a group of humans, arranged on a square grid, behave as a topological insulator. The dance features unidirectional flow of movement through dancers on the lattice edge. This effect persists when people are removed from the dance floor. Our work extends the applicability of wave physics to dance.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1654732
- PAR ID:
- 10583312
- Publisher / Repository:
- AAAS
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Science Advances
- Volume:
- 10
- Issue:
- 35
- ISSN:
- 2375-2548
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adh7810
