Events

Abstract: QuantAlps Lecture I: When non-interacting electrons are free to move in two dimensions under the influence of a magnetic field, their conductance is sharply quantized, even in the presence of disorder. This can be understood in terms of electronic states that lie at the edge of the sample and are immune scattering by defects. A central goal of topological photonics has been to realize such states for photons – rather than electrons – to be used as highly robust waveguides. The difficulty has been that since photons have no charge, they don’t respond to a magnetic field. In this lecture series I will present a selected history of the field from the perspective of the use of Floquet temporal modulation to get around this problem and realize robust chiral edge states for light. Note: Coffee and pastries will be served at the break.