Soon I Will Be Invisible: Directing Energy with Topological Metamaterials

Overview

Purpose | Scientists have been working for centuries to find ways to make objects invisible. They have found that metamaterials can be used to direct waves in ways that natural materials can not. My hypothesis is that topological metamaterials are well-suited for directing energy around an object. Procedure | First I built a Kane-Lubensky chain (KLC), and a symmetric parallelogram chain (SPC). The KLC was rigid except for one end, like I expected. However, the SPC was capable of motion throughout the whole chain. I recorded a motor driving both chains with slow-motion video, and then I used a software called Tracker to measure the positions along the chain in each frame. I measured the amplitude of the wave made by the motor to determine how energy propagates along the chains. Next, I constructed two-dimensional versions, deformed and symmetric kagome lattices (DKL/SKL), and analyzed them using the same method. Results | I found that the amplitude of the motion at each vertex along the KLC decreased by a constant factor of 1/13, representing exponential decay of the energy from the beginning to the end of the chain. In the SPC, all the vertices had the same amplitude / energy, within the margins of error of my measurement. In the DKL, energy was more confined to the outside, while it travelled through the SKL. Conclusion | My measurements confirm my hypothesis that a topological chain / lattice has energy localized in the boundary. Non-topological systems, such as the SPC and SKL, transmit energy freely throughout the structure.

Competition history

• CSEF 2026 Physics & Astronomy (Junior Division) · Entry J-17-10

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