title: Kibble-Zurek Mechanism in Topologically Nontrivial Zigzag Chains of Polariton Micropillars.
abstract: We consider a zigzag chain of coupled micropillar cavities, taking into account the polarization of polariton states. We show that the TE-TM splitting of photonic cavity modes yields topologically protected polariton edge states. During the strongly nonadiabatic process of polariton condensation, the Kibble-Zurek mechanism leads to a random choice of polarization, equivalent to the dimerization of polymer chains. We show that dark-bright solitons appear as domain walls between polarization domains, analogous to the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger solitons in polymers. The soliton density scales as a power law with respect to the quenching parameter.
authors.affiliation: Institut Pascal, PHOTON-N2, Université Clermont Auvergne, CNRS, 4 Avenue Blaise Pascal, 63178 Aubière Cedex, France.
authors.forename: D D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Solnyshkov
authors.affiliation: Institut Pascal, PHOTON-N2, Université Clermont Auvergne, CNRS, 4 Avenue Blaise Pascal, 63178 Aubière Cedex, France.|School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: A V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Nalitov
authors.affiliation: Institut Pascal, PHOTON-N2, Université Clermont Auvergne, CNRS, 4 Avenue Blaise Pascal, 63178 Aubière Cedex, France.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Malpuech