Duration: 2021-2025

Funding: Agence Nationale de la Recherche, project ANR-20-CE30-0003

Principal investigator: Sergey Skipetrov

Collaboration: Laboratoire de Physique et Modélisation des Milieux Condensés (Grenoble), Institut de Physique de Nice (Nice)

Main idea: The interplay between disorder and topological phenomena is studied, taking into account the specificities of photonics: the polarization of light, the resonant nature of scattering, and the possibility of strong deformations of a lattice.

Objectives, innovations, and challenges: The main objective of the LOLITOP project is to study the interplay between topology and disorder for light in two-dimensional (2D) metamaterials composed of subwavelength resonators. On one hand, disorder can induce a topological phase—known as the Anderson topological insulator (TAI). On the other hand, the properties of disorder-induced localized states with energies within bandgaps may depend on the topological indices of adjacent energy bands.

The primary innovation of the LOLITOP project, compared to the state of the art, is its comprehensive consideration of photonics-specific aspects—such as light polarization, the resonant nature of scattering, and the possibility of strong lattice deformations—in studying the impact of disorder on light propagation in topological metamaterials.

The main scientific challenges arise from the need to adapt existing methodologies to vectorial electromagnetic waves and to address fundamental differences between photons and electrons: the absence of charge and the “volatility” of photons, which can escape or be absorbed by the material. These challenges also open new opportunities, such as the ability to manipulate the polarization of electromagnetic waves (TM or TE modes) and control the number of allowed modes within the metamaterial.

Publications: 6 articles, 16 conference presentations, 2 PhD dissertations, 1 software package

Closing meeting of the project: workshop “Topology and Disorder in Wave Physics” (Cargèse, Corsica, France, November 18-22, 2025)