Bistable topological edge states in polariton microcavities with unpaired Dirac cones
Abstract
Among the most intriguing properties of honeycomb lattices is the presence of Dirac points that typically emerge in pairs, which can be destroyed by physical effects breaking certain symmetries of the system and leading to nontrivial band topology. We propose a nonlinear microcavity system supporting condensate of exciton-polaritons, where simultaneous breakup of inversion and time-reversal symmetries results in unusual spectrum with unpaired Dirac cones, profoundly affecting the properties of unidirectional edge states. Realized as an array of microcavity pillars, the inversion symmetry is broken by fission of pillar belonging to one of sublattices of honeycomb array into three pillars, while time-reversal symmetry is broken due to interplay of Zeeman splitting in the external magnetic field and spin-orbit coupling. Despite the absence of complete spectral gap, unidirectional edge states may still emerge that can circumvent array corners. Resonant optical pumping leads to reach bistability effects and allow selective excitation of the edge states. We obtain first example of stable localized dissipative edge soliton that circulates along the periphery of insulator over indefinitely long times without radiation. Our results suggest a new platform for nonlinear topological photonics and reveal nontrivial interplay between unpaired Dirac cones and nonlinear effects.
Versions
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BibTeX
@misc{zhang2026bistable,
title = {{Bistable topological edge states in polariton microcavities with unpaired Dirac cones}},
author = {Zhuo Zhang and Yaroslav V. Kartashov and Yongdong Li and Zhen-Nan Tian and Qi-Dai Chen and Yiqi Zhang},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = jun,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2606.17407},
eprint = {2606.17407},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.17407},
note = {CC0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Bistable topological edge states in polariton microcavities with unpaired Dirac cones
AU - Zhuo Zhang
AU - Yaroslav V. Kartashov
AU - Yongdong Li
AU - Zhen-Nan Tian
AU - Qi-Dai Chen
AU - Yiqi Zhang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/06/16
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2606.17407
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.17407
AB - Among the most intriguing properties of honeycomb lattices is the presence of Dirac points that typically emerge in pairs, which can be destroyed by physical effects breaking certain symmetries of the system and leading to nontrivial band topology. We propose a nonlinear microcavity system supporting condensate of exciton-polaritons, where simultaneous breakup of inversion and time-reversal symmetries results in unusual spectrum with unpaired Dirac cones, profoundly affecting the properties of unidirectional edge states. Realized as an array of microcavity pillars, the inversion symmetry is broken by fission of pillar belonging to one of sublattices of honeycomb array into three pillars, while time-reversal symmetry is broken due to interplay of Zeeman splitting in the external magnetic field and spin-orbit coupling. Despite the absence of complete spectral gap, unidirectional edge states may still emerge that can circumvent array corners. Resonant optical pumping leads to reach bistability effects and allow selective excitation of the edge states. We obtain first example of stable localized dissipative edge soliton that circulates along the periphery of insulator over indefinitely long times without radiation. Our results suggest a new platform for nonlinear topological photonics and reveal nontrivial interplay between unpaired Dirac cones and nonlinear effects.
ER -