New Jersey Institute of Technology

 

Mechanical systems can display topological characteristics similar to that of topological insulators. In this talk I am going to present such materials from the microtubule to quasiperiodic crystals. The microtubule, the skeleton of every eukaryotic cell, was proposed to be a topological material with the topological edge modes playing an important role in its functioning. I will present our experimental work geared towards measuring the phonon spectrum of individual microtubule, and mapping the differences between regular and cancerous microtubules. A novel experimental platform based on coupled magnetic spinners will be introduced to visualize the mechanical analogous of Quantum Valley Hall Effect, as well as a new system supporting topological edge modes. Practical applications will be discussed.