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Topological properties play an increasingly important role in future research and technology. This also applies to the field of topological magnetic excitations which has recently become a very active and broad field. In this Perspective article, we give an insight into the current theoretical and experimental investigations and try an outlook on future lines of research., Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, including supplemental material

Topological properties in condensed matter physics are often claimed to be a fruitful resource for technical applications, but so far they only play a minor role in applications. Here we propose to put topological edge states to use in tailored graphene for Fermi velocity engineering. By tuning external control parameters such as gate voltages, the dispersions of the edge states regime are modified in a controllable way. This enables the realizations of devices such as tunable delay lines and interferometers with switchable delays., Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures

The presence of a topologically non-trivial discrete invariants implies the existence of gapless modes in finite samples, but it does not necessarily imply their localization. The disappearance of the indirect energy gap in the bulk generically leads to the absence of localized edge states. We illustrate this behavior in two fundamental lattice models on the single-particle level. By tuning a hopping parameter the indirect gap is closed while maintaining the topological properties. The inverse participation ratio is used to measure the degree of localization., Comment: 5 pages including 6 figures and 4 pages supplement including 8 figure

Topological excitations in magnetically ordered systems have attracted much attention lately. We report on topological magnon bands in ferromagnetic Shastry-Sutherland lattices whose edge modes can be put to use in magnonic devices. The synergy of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions and geometrical frustration is responsible for the topologically non-trivial character. Using exact spin wave theory we determine the finite Chern numbers of the magnon bands which give rise to chiral edge states. The quadratic band crossing point vanishes due the present anisotropies and the system enters a topological phase. We calculate the thermal Hall conductivity as an experimental signature of the topological phase. Different promising compounds are discussed as possible physical realizations of ferromagnetic Shastry-Sutherland lattices hosting the required antisymmetric Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions. Routes to applications in magnonics are pointed out., Comment: 6 pages including 4 figures and 2 pages supplement including 1 figure

We study topological properties of one-triplon bands in an extended Shastry-Sutherland model relevant for the frustrated quantum magnet SrCu_2(BO_3)_2. To this end perturbative continuous unitary transformations are applied about the isolated dimer limit allowing to calculate the one-triplon dispersion up to high order in various couplings including intra and inter Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions and a general uniform magnetic field. We determine the Berry curvature and the Chern number of the different one-triplon bands. We demonstrate the occurance of Chern numbers $\pm 1$ and $\pm 2$ for the case that two components of the magnetic field are finite. Finally, we also calculate the triplon Hall effect arising at finite temperatures., Comment: 12 pages, 13 figures

The interest in the properties of edge states in Chern insulators and in $\mathbb{Z}_2$ topological insulator has increased rapidly in recent years. We present calculations on how to influence the transport properties of chiral and helical edge states by modifications of the edges in the Haldane and in the Kane-Mele model. The Fermi velocity of the chiral edge states becomes direction-dependent as does the spin-dependent Fermi velocity of the helical edge states. Moreover, it is possible to tune the Fermi velocity by orders of magnitude. Additionally, we explicitly investigate the robustness of edge states against local disorder. The edge states can be reconstructed in the Brillouin zone in presence of disorder. The influence of the width and of the length of the system is studied as well as the dependence on the strength of the disorder., Comment: 13 pages, 21 figures

Here we show that a new class of glasses composed of heavy metal oxides involving transition metals (V$_\text {2}$O$_\text{}$5-TeO$_\text{2}$), can surprisingly be designed from very basic tools using topology and rigidity of their underlying molecular networks. When investigated as a function of composition, such glasses display abrupt changes in network packing and enthalpy of relaxation at Tg, underscoring presence of flexible to rigid elastic phase transitions. We find that these elastic phases are fully consistent with polaronic nature of electronic conductivity at high V$_\text{2}$O$_\text{5}$ content. Such observations have new implications for designing electronic glasses which differ from the traditional amorphous electrolytes having only mobile ions as charge carriers., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures

AC conductivity spectra of xAgI-(1-x)AgPO$_3$ fast ion conducting glasses spanning the flexible, intermediate (isostatically rigid) and stressed rigid phases are analyzed. The rescaled frequency dependent spectra are mapped into time-dependent mean square displacements out of which a typical lengthscale characterizing the spatial extent $\sqrt{\langle R^2(\infty)\rangle}$ of non-random diffusion paths is computed. The latter quantity is studied as a function of AgI composition, it is found to display a maximum in the intermediate phase, providing the first clear evidence of a typical lengthscale of a dynamical nature when a system becomes isostatically rigid and enters the intermediate phase., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures

Electrical conductivity of dry, slow cooled (AgPO$_3$)$_{1-x}$(AgI)$_x$ glasses is examined as a function of temperature, frequency and glass composition. From these data compositional trends in activation energy for conductivity E$_A$(x), Coulomb energy E$_c$(x) for Ag$^+$ ion creation, Kohlrausch stretched exponent $\beta$(x), low frequency ($\varepsilon_s$(x)) and high-frequency ($\varepsilon_\infty$(x)) permittivity are deduced. All parameters except E$_c$(x) display two compositional thresholds, one near the stress transition, x = x$_c$(1)= 9%, and the other near the rigidity transition, x = x$_c$(2)= 38% of the alloyed glass network. These elastic phase transitions were identified in modulated- DSC, IR reflectance and Raman scattering experiments earlier. A self-organized ion hopping model (SIHM) of a parent electrolyte system is developed that self-consistently incorporates mechanical constraints due to chemical bonding with carrier concentrations and mobility. The model predicts the observed compositional variation of $\sigma$(x), including the observation of a step-like jump when glasses enter the Intermediate Phase at x$>$x$_c$(1), and an exponential increase when glasses become flexible at x$>$x$_c$(2). Since E$_c$ is found to be small compared to network strain energy (E$_s$), we conclude that free carrier concentrations are close to nominal AgI concentrations, and that fast-ion conduction is driven largely by changes in carrier mobility induced by an elastic softening of network structure., Comment: 11 pages, 10 figure, to appear in Physical Review B

We consider the polarization arising from scattering in an envelope illuminated by a central anisotropic source. Spherical harmonics are used to describe both the light source anisotropy and the envelope density distribution functions of the scattering particles. This framework demonstrates how the net resultant polarization arises from a superposition of three basic "shape" functions: the distribution of source illumination, the distribution of envelope scatterers, and the phase function for dipole scattering. Specific expressions for the Stokes parameters and scattered flux are derived for the case of an ellipsoidal light source inside an ellipsoidal envelope, with principal axes that are generally not aligned. Two illustrative examples are considered: (a) axisymmetric mass loss from a rapidly rotating star, such as may apply to some Luminous Blue Variables, and (b) a Roche-lobe filling star in a binary system with a circumstellar envelope. As a general conclusion, the combination of source anisotropy with distorted scattering envelopes leads to more complex polarimetric behavior such that the source characteristics should be carefully considered when interpreting polarimetric data., Comment: to appear in A&A

In eukaryotic genes the protein coding sequence is split into several fragments, the exons, separated by non-coding DNA stretches, the introns. Prokaryotes do not have introns in their genome. We report the calculations of stability domains of actin genes for various organisms in the animal, plant and fungi kingdoms. Actin genes have been chosen because they have been highly conserved during evolution. In these genes all introns were removed so as to mimic ancient genes at the time of the early eukaryotic development, i.e. before introns insertion. Common stability boundaries are found in evolutionary distant organisms, which implies that these boundaries date from the early origin of eukaryotes. In general boundaries correspond with introns positions of vertebrates and other animals actins, but not much for plants and fungi. The sharpest boundary is found in a locus where fungi, algae and animals have introns in positions separated by one nucleotide only, which identifies a hot-spot for insertion. These results suggest that some introns may have been incorporated into the genomes through a thermodynamic driven mechanism, in agreement with previous observations on human genes. They also suggest a different mechanism for introns insertion in plants and animals., Comment: 9 Pages, 7 figures. Phys. Rev. E in press

We observe two thresholds in the variations of electrical conductivity of dry solid electrolyte (AgI)x(AgPO3)1-x glasses, when the AgI additive concentration x increases to 9.5% and to 37.8%. Raman scattering complemented by calorimetric measurements confirm that these thresholds are signatures of the rigidity phase transitions; at x = 9.5% from a stressed rigid to an isostatically (stress free) rigid phase, and at x = 37.8% from isostatically rigid to a flexible phase. In the flexible phase, the electrical conductivity seems to increase as a power of x, this is in good agreement with the theoretical prediction based on 3d percolation., Comment: Accepted by PRL

Non-Arrhenius behaviour and fast increase of the ionic conductivity is observed for a number of potassium silicate glasses $(1-x)SiO_2-xK_2O$ with potassium oxide concentration larger than a certain value $x=x_c=0.14$. Recovering of Arrhenius behaviour is provided by the annealing that enhances densification. Conductivity furthermore obeys a percolation law with the same critical concentration $x_c$. These various results are the manifestation of the floppy or rigid nature of the network and can be analyzed with constraint theory. They underscore the key role played by network rigidity for the understanding of conduction and saturation effects in glassy electrolytes., Comment: 4 pages, 4 EPS figures

Alkaline earth silicate glasses $xCaO-(1-x)SiO_2$ exhibit a well marked threshold in Raman lineshapes which can be related to the onset of network rigidity as the concentration of calcium oxide $x$ is decreased. The present results are analyzed by constraint counting algorithms and more deeply characterized by a size increasing cluster approximation that allows to perform Maxwell mechanical constraint counting beyond the usual mean-field treatment. This permits to discuss under which structural conditions an elastic intermediate phase can be obtained., Comment: 11 pages, 12 figures

Ion conducting $(CaO)_x(SiO_2)_{1-x}$ glasses and melts show a threshold behaviour in dc conductivity near $x=x_t=0.50$, with conductivities increasing linearly at $x>x_t$. We show that the behaviour can be traced to a rigid ($x<0.50$) to floppy ($x>0.50$) elastic phase transition near $x=x_t$. In the floppy phase, conductivity enhancement is traced to increased mobility or diffusion of $Ca^{2+}$ carriers as the modified network elastically softens., Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures. Europhysics Letters (2003), in press