Topological Subspace-Induced Bound State in the Continuum

Phys Rev Lett. 2017 Apr 21;118(16):166803. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.166803. Epub 2017 Apr 17.

Abstract

We propose and experimentally realize a new kind of bound states in the continuum (BICs) in a class of systems constructed by coupling multiple identical one-dimensional chains, each with inversion symmetry. In such systems, a specific separation of the Hilbert space into a topological and a nontopological subspace exists. Bulk-boundary correspondence in the topological subspace guarantees the existence of a localized interface state which can lie in the continuum of extended states in the nontopological subspace, forming a BIC. Such a topological BIC is observed experimentally in a system consisting of coupled acoustic resonators.