MIT News January 11, 2018
A team of researchers in the US (MIT, Yale University) used a method that made these open systems accessible and found two specific kinds of effects that are distinctive topological signatures of non-Hermitian systems. One of these is a kind of band feature they refer to as a bulk Fermi arc, and the other is an unusual kind of changing polarization emitted by the photonic crystal used for the study. Most of the potential real-world applications for photonic crystals involve open systems, so the new observations made by this team could open new areas of research… read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLEÂ
A drawing illustrates the unusual topological landscape around a pair of features known as exceptional points (red dots), showing the emergence of a Fermi arc (pink line at center), and exotic polarization contours that form a Mobius-strip-like texture (top and bottom strips). CREDIT: Courtesy of the researchers.