Events

Title: Topological Mechanics

Abstract: The elastic properties of materials are determined by a few material constants such as the Young's modulus. Using super-structures one can effectively change these "constants". In this way, we obtain functionalities such as wave-guiding, acoustic lensing or programmable failure. I will show how topological band theory, known from the description of electrons in solids, provides us with a powerful design principle for such mechanical metamaterials. Moreover, mechanical metamaterials offer a powerful platform for the study of fundamentally new phenomena that are hard to observe in other arenas. Here, I will highlight the first measurement of a quadrupole topological insulator in a silicon-based metamaterial and the implementation of an axial gauge field in an acoustic Weyl system.

Description: Weekly string theory journal club with paper discussion and talk by a group member. Papers can be posted here.

Talk: Pau Figueras: Towards the Endpoint of the Small Black Hole Instability in AdS(5)xS^5