Topological Gaseous Plasmon Polariton in Realistic Plasma

Understand

Nontrivial topology in bulk matter has been linked with the existence of topologically protected interfacial states.

• We show that a gaseous plasmon polariton (GPP), an electromagnetic surface wave existing at the boundary of magnetized plasma and vacuum, has a topological origin that arises from the nontrivial topology of magnetized plasma.
• Because a gaseous plasma cannot sustain a sharp interface with discontinuous density, one must consider a gradual density falloff with scale length comparable or longer than the wavelength of the wave.
• We show that the GPP may be found within a gapped spectrum in present-day laboratory devices, suggesting that platforms are currently available for experimental investigation of topological wave physics in plasmas.