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We study chiral models in one spatial dimension, both static and periodically driven. We demonstrate that their topological properties may be read out through the long time limit of a bulk observable, the mean chiral displacement. The derivation of this result is done in terms of spectral projectors, allowing for a detailed understanding of the physics. We show that the proposed detection converges rapidly and it can be implemented in a wide class of chiral systems. Furthermore, it can measure arbitrary winding numbers and topological boundaries, it applies to all non-interacting systems, independently of their quantum statistics, and it requires no additional elements, such as external fields, nor filled bands.

Adding irregularity to a system can lead to a transition from a more orderly to a less orderly phase. Meier et al. demonstrated a counterintuitive transition in the opposite direction: Controlled fluctuations in the system's parameters caused it to become topologically nontrivial. The starting point was a one-dimensional lattice of ultracold rubidium atoms in momentum space whose band structure was topologically trivial. The researchers then introduced fluctuations in the tunneling between the lattice sites and monitored the atomic “wires” as the amplitude of the fluctuations increased. The wires first became topologically nontrivial and then went back to trivial for sufficient disorder strengths. Science , this issue p. 929 Controlled fluctuations in the tunneling between the sites of an atomic wire in momentum space cause a topological transition. Topology and disorder have a rich combined influence on quantum transport. To probe their interplay, we synthesized one-dimensional chiral symmetric wires with controllable disorder via spectroscopic Hamiltonian engineering, based on the laser-driven coupling of discrete momentum states of ultracold atoms. Measuring the bulk evolution of a topological indicator after a sudden quench, we observed the topological Anderson insulator phase, in which added disorder drives the band structure of a wire from topologically trivial to nontrivial. In addition, we observed the robustness of topologically nontrivial wires to weak disorder and measured the transition to a trivial phase in the presence of strong disorder. Atomic interactions in this quantum simulation platform may enable realizations of strongly interacting topological fluids.

Topological insulators are fascinating states of matter exhibiting protected edge states and robust quantized features in their bulk. Here we propose and validate experimentally a method to detect topological properties in the bulk of one-dimensional chiral systems. We first introduce the mean chiral displacement, an observable that rapidly approaches a value proportional to the Zak phase during the free evolution of the system. Then we measure the Zak phase in a photonic quantum walk of twisted photons, by observing the mean chiral displacement in its bulk. Next, we measure the Zak phase in an alternative, inequivalent timeframe and combine the two windings to characterize the full phase diagram of this Floquet system. Finally, we prove the robustness of the measure by introducing dynamical disorder in the system. This detection method is extremely general and readily applicable to all present one-dimensional platforms simulating static or Floquet chiral systems. The detection of topological invariants in the bulk remains challenging even in state-of-the-art experiments. Here, Cardano et al . propose a method to read-out the Zak phases and topological invariants in one-dimensional chiral systems and detect those in a photonic quantum walk of twisted photons.

Many phenomena in solid-state physics can be understood in terms of their topological properties. Recently, controlled protocols of quantum walk (QW) are proving to be effective simulators of such phenomena. Here we report the realization of a photonic QW showing both the trivial and the non-trivial topologies associated with chiral symmetry in one-dimensional (1D) periodic systems. We find that the probability distribution moments of the walker position after many steps can be used as direct indicators of the topological quantum transition: while varying a control parameter that defines the system phase, these moments exhibit a slope discontinuity at the transition point. Numerical simulations strongly support the conjecture that these features are general of 1D topological systems. Extending this approach to higher dimensions, different topological classes, and other typologies of quantum phases may offer general instruments for investigating and experimentally detecting quantum transitions in such complex systems. Topological phases play a fundamental role in a variety of physical systems, yet there is a lack of efficient tools for revealing the occurrence of associated quantum transitions. Here, Cardano et al. report that such transitions can be identified in the statistics of quantum-walk dynamics and validate this idea in a photonic experimental implementation.

Obtaining the total wavefunction evolution of interacting quantum systems provides access to important properties, such as entanglement, shedding light on fundamental aspects, e.g., quantum energetics and thermodynamics, and guiding towards possible application in the fields of quantum computation and communication. We consider a two-level atom (qubit) coupled to the continuum of travelling modes of a field confined in a one-dimensional chiral waveguide. Originally, we treated the light-matter ensemble as a closed, isolated system. We solve its dynamics using a collision model where individual temporal modes of the field locally interact with the qubit in a sequential fashion. This approach allows us to obtain the total wavefunction of the qubit-field system, at any time, when the field starts in a coherent or a single-photon state. Our method is general and can be applied to other initial field states.

In two, three and even four spatial dimensions, the transverse responses experienced by a charged particle on a lattice in a uniform magnetic field are fully controlled by topological invariants called Chern numbers, which characterize the energy bands of the underlying Hofstadter Hamiltonian. These remarkable features, solely arising from the magnetic translational symmetry, are captured by Diophantine equations which relate the fraction of occupied states, the magnetic flux and the Chern numbers of the system bands. Here we investigate the close analogy between the topological properties of Hofstadter Hamiltonians and the diffraction figures resulting from optical gratings. In particular, we show that there is a one-to-one relation between the above mentioned Diophantine equation and the Bragg condition determining the far-field positions of the optical diffraction peaks. As an interesting consequence of this mapping, we discuss how the robustness of diffraction figures to structural disorder in the grating is a direct analogue of the robustness of transverse conductance in the quantum Hall effect.

Cryptococcosis is a leading invasive fungal infection in immunocompromised patients. Considering the high prevalence and severity of these infections in immunocompromised patients attended at HC-FMRP-USP, the present research aimed to characterize the clinical isolates of Cryptococcus strains by biochemical and molecular methods and evaluate antifungal susceptibility of clinical isolates. Fifty isolates from 32 HIV-positive patients were obtained at HC-FMRP-USP. Most of the isolates (78.1%) were identified as C. neoformans, and 100% of C. neoformans and C. gattii strains were susceptible to amphotericin B, ketoconazole and fluconazole. All isolates were classified as serotype A (grubbii variety) by PCR and most of them were characterized in mating type MATa. PCR analysis of specific M13 microsatellite sequence revealed that VNI type was predominant among C. neoformans, while VGII was predominant among C. gattii. The strains did not show a significant resistance to the antifungals tested, and Canavanine-Glycine-Bromthymol Blue Agar (CGB) proved to be a reliable test presenting a good correlation with the molecular characterization. C. neoformans isolated from disseminated infections in the same patient showed molecular identity when different anatomical sites were compared; besides, the studied strains did not present a significant increase in resistance to antifungal agents. In addition, the homogeneity of the molecular types and detection of the mating types suggested a low possibility of crossing among the strains.

Entanglement and spontaneous emission are fundamental quantum phenomena that drive many applications of quantum physics. During the spontaneous emission of light from an excited two-level atom, the atom briefly becomes entangled with the photonic field. Here we show that this natural process can be used to produce photon-number entangled states of light distributed in time. By exciting a quantum dot—an artificial two-level atom—with two sequential π-pulses, we generate a photon-number Bell state. We characterize this state using time-resolved intensity and phase correlation measurements. Furthermore, we theoretically show that applying longer sequences of pulses to a two-level atom can produce a series of multi-temporal mode entangled states with properties intrinsically related to the Fibonacci sequence. Our results on photon-number entanglement can be further exploited to generate new states of quantum light with applications in quantum technologies.A photon-number Bell state is generated from a quantum dot by controlling the light–matter entanglement during spontaneous emission. This excitation protocol can be scaled up by using N consecutive π-pulses to deliver multimode photonic entanglement.