Landau-Zener Transition in Topological Acoustic Pumping

Abstract: Quantized charge pumping is a robust adiabatic phenomenon uniquely existing in topologically nontrivial systems. Such topological pumping not only brings fundamental insights to the evolution of states under the protection of topology but also provides a vital approach for the study of higher-dimensional topological phases. In this work, we demonstrate topological pumping in an acoustic waveguide system by showing the successful pumping of topological boundary states (TBSs) across the bulk to the opposite edge. By exploring the finite-size induced mini-gap between two TBS bands, we unveil the quantitative condition for the breakdown of adiabaticity in the system by demonstrating the Landau-Zener transition with both theory and experiments. Our results not only open a new route for future investigations of topological acoustics but also establish non-adiabatic transitions as a new degree of freedom for manipulating topological states.