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Full-Text Articles in Physics

Some 2-Categorical Aspects In Physics, Arthur Parzygnat Sep 2016

Some 2-Categorical Aspects In Physics, Arthur Parzygnat

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

2-categories provide a useful transition point between ordinary category theory and infinity-category theory where one can perform concrete computations for applications in physics and at the same time provide rigorous formalism for mathematical structures appearing in physics. We survey three such broad instances. First, we describe two-dimensional algebra as a means of constructing non-abelian parallel transport along surfaces which can be used to describe strings charged under non-abelian gauge groups in string theory. Second, we formalize the notion of convex and cone categories, provide a preliminary categorical definition of entropy, and exhibit several examples. Thirdly, we provide a universal description …


Experimental Demonstration Of Topological Effects In Bianisotropic Metamaterials, Alexey P. Slobozhanyuk, Alexander B. Khanikaev, Dmitry S. Filonov, Daria A. Smirnova, Andrey E. Miroshnichenko, Yuri S. Kivshar Mar 2016

Experimental Demonstration Of Topological Effects In Bianisotropic Metamaterials, Alexey P. Slobozhanyuk, Alexander B. Khanikaev, Dmitry S. Filonov, Daria A. Smirnova, Andrey E. Miroshnichenko, Yuri S. Kivshar

Publications and Research

Existence of robust edge states at interfaces of topologically dissimilar systems is one of the most fascinating manifestations of a novel nontrivial state of matter, a topological insulator. Such nontrivial states were originally predicted and discovered in condensed matter physics, but they find their counterparts in other fields of physics, including the physics of classical waves and electromagnetism. Here, we present the first experimental realization of a topological insulator for electromagnetic waves based on engineered bianisotropic metamaterials. By employing the near-field scanning technique, we demonstrate experimentally the topologically robust propagation of electromagnetic waves around sharp corners without backscattering effects.