Wavefunction-templated metamaterials
Abstract
Metamaterials, which store, guide and emit waves through their eigenmodes, have enabled the development of devices with unprecedented functionalities. Yet the spatial profiles of conventional metamaterials' eigenmodes are typically determined by their pre-determined structures (Hamiltonians). In this work, we introduce `wavefunction-templated metamaterials', a class of physically realizable metamaterials hosting diverse prescribed, spectrally isolated eigenstates. The resulting Hamiltonian geometries obey a boundary law, with the required nonlocality determined solely by single-contact boundary sites, independent of the state interior or lattice size. The sparse Hamiltonians are then Hermitianized, followed by spectral reshaping to open a protective gap around the target eigenstate. We validate our approach in discrete lattices and acoustic metamaterials. Although demonstrated in acoustics, the principle can be applied to thermal, electrical-circuit and photonic metamaterials.
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BibTeX
@misc{chen2026wavefunctiontemplated,
title = {{Wavefunction-templated metamaterials}},
author = {Yutao Chen and Tao Xiao and Jing Li and Aodong Li and Biye Xie},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.37248},
eprint = {2610.37248},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.37248},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Wavefunction-templated metamaterials
AU - Yutao Chen
AU - Tao Xiao
AU - Jing Li
AU - Aodong Li
AU - Biye Xie
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/27
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.37248
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.37248
AB - Metamaterials, which store, guide and emit waves through their eigenmodes, have enabled the development of devices with unprecedented functionalities. Yet the spatial profiles of conventional metamaterials' eigenmodes are typically determined by their pre-determined structures (Hamiltonians). In this work, we introduce `wavefunction-templated metamaterials', a class of physically realizable metamaterials hosting diverse prescribed, spectrally isolated eigenstates. The resulting Hamiltonian geometries obey a boundary law, with the required nonlocality determined solely by single-contact boundary sites, independent of the state interior or lattice size. The sparse Hamiltonians are then Hermitianized, followed by spectral reshaping to open a protective gap around the target eigenstate. We validate our approach in discrete lattices and acoustic metamaterials. Although demonstrated in acoustics, the principle can be applied to thermal, electrical-circuit and photonic metamaterials.
ER -