A 1D topological insulator for light

Abstract

A 1D photonic topological insulator is the photonic realization of a 1D topological insulator. We show how the calculation of a topological invariant, known as the Zak phase, is a useful tool to identify different topologies in one-dimensional systems. We found topological phase transitions for the 1D photonic topological insulator and its relation to the inversion symmetry of the system.