Unidirectional acoustic metamaterials based on nonadiabatic holonomic quantum transformations

Abstract

Nonadiabatic holonomic quantum transformations (NHQTs) have attracted wide attention and have been applied in many aspects of quantum computation, whereas related research is usually limited to the field of quantum physics. Here we bring NHQTs into constructing a unidirectional acoustic metamaterial (UDAM) for shaping classical beams. The UDAM is made up of an array of three-waveguide couplers, where the propagation of acoustic waves mimics the evolution of NHQTs. The excellent agreement among analytical predictions, numerical simulations, and experimental measurements confirms the great applicability of NHQTs in acoustic metamaterial engineering. The present work extends research on NHQTs from quantum physics to the field of classical waves for designing metamaterials with simple structures and may pave a new way to design UDAMs that would be of potential applications in acoustic isolation, communication, and stealth.