Topological Mechanics
The IoP colloquium of this month will be given by Prof. Sebastian Huber from the Institut für Theoretische Physik, EHT.
Date | 20 September 2018 |
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Time | 16:00 -17:00 |
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.
Drinks after the colloquium will be served in the CWI Newtonzaal.
Room: CWI Turingzaal, Science Park 125