A topological pump, a quantum pump protected by the bulk topology, enables the robust quantized transport of particles (or waves) when the system parameters are varied in a cyclic process. In previous studies, topological pumps were studied in undistorted systems. Here, we show topological pumps can happen between disclination states with different chiralities in a distorted lattice. Based on a generalized understanding of the charge pumping process, we explain the topological disclination pump by tracing the motion of Wannier centers in each unit cell. In addition, by constructing two disclination structures and introducing a symmetry-breaking perturbation, we achieve a topological pumping between different disclination cores. Furthermore, we expect to observe our predictions in femtosecond-laser-written waveguide arrays with a fine-tuned geometry and refractive index. Our result opens a route to study the topological pump in distorted systems and enables the quantized transport of photons between real-space topological defects.

Close

PrevNext

View figure in article

• Photonic crystals
• Photonics
• Synthetic gauge fields