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Recently, higher-order topological phases have endowed materials many exotic topological phases. For three-dimensional (3D) higher-order topologies, it hosts topologically protected 1D hinge states or 0D corner states, which extend the bulk-boundary correspondence of 3D topological phases. Meanwhile, the enrichment of group symmetries with exploration of projective symmetry algebras redefined the fundamentals of nontrivial topological matter with artificial gauge fields, leading to the discovery of new topological phases in classical wave systems. In this Letter, we construct an acoustic topological semimetal characterized by both the first and the second Stiefel-Whitney (SW) topological charges by utilizing the projective symmetry. Different from conventional high-order topologies with multiple bulk-boundary correspondences protected by different class topological invariants, acoustic high-order Stiefel-Whitney semimetal (HOSWS) has two different bulk-edge correspondences protected by only one class (SW class) topological invariant. Two types of topological hinge and surface states are embedded in bulk bands at the same frequency, featuring similar characteristics of bound states in the continuum (BICs). In experiments, we demonstrate the existence of high-quality surface state and hinge state at the interested frequency window with polarized intensity field distributions.

Abbe diffraction limit fundamentally bounds the resolution of conventional optical imaging and spectroscopic systems. Along the years, several schemes have been introduced to overcome this limit, each offering opportunities and trade-offs. Metamaterials have been proposed as a promising platform in this context, in principle enabling superlenses capable of drastic resolution enhancements. However, their performance is severely hindered by material loss and nonlocal phenomena, which become increasingly more detrimental as we attempt to image more subwavelength details. Active metamaterials have been explored to overcome these challenges, however material gain introduces other obstacles, e.g., instabilities, nonlinearities and noise. Here, we demonstrate that the temporal excitation of passive superlenses using signals oscillating at complex frequencies compensates material loss, leading to resolution enhancement. Our results demonstrate that virtual gain stemming from tailored forms of excitation can tackle the impact of loss in superlenses. More broadly, our work opens promising avenues for loss compensation in metamaterials, with a broad range of applications extendable to optics and nanophotonic systems., 19 pages, 4 figures

The eigenvalue of a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian often forms a self-intersecting Riemann surface, leading to a unique mode conversion phenomenon when the Hamiltonian evolves along certain loop paths around an exceptional point (EP). However, two fundamental problems exist with the conventional scheme of EP encircling: the speed of mode conversion is restricted by the adiabatic requirement, and the chirality cannot be freely controlled. We introduce a method for dynamically engineering adiabaticity in the evolution of non-Hermitian Hamiltonians that allows for both chiral and non-chiral mode conversion on the same path. Our method is based on quantifying and controlling the instantaneous adiabaticity, allowing for non-uniform evolution throughout the entire path. By optimizing the evolution based on the distributed nature of adiabaticity, we achieve the same quality as conventional quasi-adiabatic evolution in only one-third of the time. Our approach provides a comprehensive and universal solution to address the speed and chirality challenges associated with EP encircling. It also facilitates the dynamic manipulation and regulation of non-adiabatic processes, thereby accelerating the operation and allowing for a selection among various mode conversion patterns.

Time reversal (T) invariant topological insulator is widely recognized as one of the fundamental discoveries in condensed matter physics, for which the most fascinating hallmark is perhaps a spin based topological protection, the total cancellation of scattering of conduction electrons with certain spins on matter surface. Recently, it has created a paradigm shift for topological insulators, from electronics to photonics, phononics as well as mechanics, bringing about not only involved new physics but also potential applications in robust wave transport. Despite the growing interests in realizing topologically protected acoustic wave transport, T-invariant acoustic topological insulator has not yet been achieved. Here, we report the first demonstration of acoustic topological insulator: a strongly coupled metamaterial ring lattice that supports one-way propagation of helical edge states under T-symmetry, backscattering immune to boundary abrupt variations. The very unique thing is the formation of spin-filtered interface states due to lattice dislocations. The mechanism underlying the formation of topologically protected edge states and interface states is applicable in various other wave systems or higher dimensions., Comment: 20 pages, 4 figures