Zeno Freezing and Anti-Zeno Acceleration of the Dynamic Evolution of Topological Boundary States

  • Xiao Meng Zhang
  • , Ze Guo Chen*
  • , Guancong Ma*
  • , Ming Hui Lu*
  • , Yan Feng Chen
  • *Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

Measurements fundamentally alter the evolution of a quantum system by disturbing its state, which can either freeze its dynamics (quantum Zeno effect, ZE) or accelerate transitions (anti-Zeno effect, AZE). While these effects are well established for ordinary quantum states, their impact on topological states - renowned for their robustness against disorder - has remained unexplored. Here we explore this interplay in a classical wave analog of quantum dynamics, demonstrating both theoretically and experimentally that topological boundary states can be controlled by quantumlike measurements implemented in spatially modulated acoustic waveguides. By introducing controlled perturbations, we emulate repeated measurements and reveal how they freeze or accelerate boundary-state tunneling. Using a geometric framework based on the quantum metric, we identify the general conditions for ZE and AZE, and further uncover a new tunneling mechanism enabled by varying measurement strength. These results establish quantumlike measurement as a versatile tool for manipulating topological states and wave propagation, with broad relevance to photonic, elastic, and quantum systems.

Original languageEnglish
Article number216601
Number of pages8
JournalPhysical Review Letters
Volume135
Issue number21
Early online date17 Nov 2025
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 21 Nov 2025

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Zeno Freezing and Anti-Zeno Acceleration of the Dynamic Evolution of Topological Boundary States'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this