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International audience; Recently, the evolution of the Weyl point (WP) caused by the introduction of nonhermiticity into Weyl semimetals has aroused great research interest. We consider elastic flexural wave propagation in a phononic beam containing piezoelectric materials and introduce nonhermiticity through active regulation of external circuits. Considering a synthetic parameter space constituted by the one-dimensional Bloch wave vector and two geometrical parameters, we demonstrate that a double WP (DWP) arises at the band crossing. Then we study its evolution from the hermitic to nonhermitic situation under the effect of the active piezoelectric materials. We find that the DWP in the hermitic case evolves into a Weyl degenerate line and a Weyl hollow ring as concerns the real and imaginary parts of the Weyl frequencies, respectively. The formation mechanisms of the DWPs, lines, and rings are explained through the Hamiltonian of the system. Further, we observe the changes of the DWP and degenerate line in the transmission spectra of finite structures. Finally, we discuss the synthetic Fermi arc interface states through the analysis of the reflected phase vortices. In this paper, we provide insights into the high-dimensional Hermitian and non-Hermitian physics in elastic wave systems using synthetic dimensions.

The electronic structure of recently synthesized square superlattices with atomic coherence composed of PbSe, CdSe, or CdTe nanocrystals (NCs) attached along {100} facets is investigated using tight-binding calculations. In experimental realizations of these systems [W. H. Evers et al., Nano Lett. 13, 2317 (2013)], NC facets are atomically bonded, resulting in single-crystalline sheets, which, due to their nanogeometry, have an effective dimensionality below two. We predict electronic structures composed of successive bands formed by strong coupling between the wave functions of nearest-neighbor NCs. This coupling is mainly determined by the number of atoms at the NC bonding plane. The band structures deviate markedly from that of the corresponding two-dimensional (2D) quantum well; the 2D case can be recovered, however, if the effects of the nanogeometry are gradually reduced. The width of the bands can reach hundreds of meV, ascribing highly promising transport properties to square superlattices. The band edges are located at k=0 except for PbSe superlattices, where their position in k space surprisingly depends on the parity of the number of {100} atomic planes in the NCs. Our calculations demonstrate that semiconductors with dimensionality below two have a strong potential for (opto-)electronic, photovoltaic, and spintronic applications.