{
  "abstract": "Tight-binding photonics bridges condensed-matter physics and optics, providing a powerful framework for engineering band structures and topological phases with light. For photons, however, the vacuum is gapless, so resonators in air carry radiative tails that produce spurious long-range couplings. Here we embed resonators in a photonic band-gap vacuum (BgV), a photonic crystal whose band gap plays for photons the role vacuum plays for bound electrons. The BgV localizes each resonance exponentially, so designed short-range couplings define the lattice Hamiltonian. We thereby experimentally realize a faithful Benalcazar-Bernevig-Hughes Hamiltonian in an all-dielectric photonic crystal, resolving corner resonances and their orbitals in microwave measurements. Unlike the vacuum surrounding electrons, the BgV is itself designable, controlling relative couplings and closed-loop interference through its band dispersion and Bloch modes. Full-wave calculations and extracted models show that uniformly modifying the BgV, with all resonators fixed, switches the quantized polarization of a two-dimensional Su-Schrieffer-Heeger lattice and converts a zero-flux lattice into a $π$-flux one. We also numerically realize three-dimensional pyrochlore and hyperhoneycomb lattices with space groups $R\\bar{3}m$ and $C2/c$, the latter a nodal-loop semimetal with topological drumhead surface states. These results establish the BgV as a designable vacuum for all-dielectric tight-binding photonics in two and three dimensions.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2610.25655",
  "author_total": 4,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Aodong Li"
    },
    {
      "name": "Jing Li"
    },
    {
      "name": "Tao Xiao"
    },
    {
      "name": "Biye Xie"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/2rzkmdbjdfpfd.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2610.25655",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "2rzkmdbjdfpfd",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.25655",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "LicenseRef-arXiv-nonexclusive-1.0",
  "licence_label": "arXiv licence",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "physics.optics"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3107|Topological Materials and Phenomena"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7223059022",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2610.25655",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-21",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/2rzkmdbjdfpfd.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:34:18Z",
      "native_id": "2610.25655",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.25655"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:physics.optics",
      "subfield": "optics-photonics"
    }
  ],
  "title": "All-Dielectric Tight-Binding Photonics via a Band-Gap Vacuum",
  "title_text": "All-Dielectric Tight-Binding Photonics via a Band-Gap Vacuum",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:34:18Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/2rzkmdbjdfpfd",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}