Physics and topological properties of periodic and aperiodic transmission line networks

Abstract

Transmission line is a common kind of one-dimensional waveguide. In addition to being widely used in engineering, the transmission lines can be used in proof-of-principle experiments in basic scientific research. For example, the wave equations governing the transmission line and quantum wire are equivalent, so transmission lines are widely used in the research of quantum graphs. The transmission line network equations are similar to the equations of zero-energy tight binding model, so the transmission line network can also be used to study some physical properties predicted by the theories based on tight binding model, and examples include Anderson localization, band dispersions, topological properties, etc. According to the transmission line network equations, we review some applications of transmission lines in the research fields mentioned above. We will discuss Anderson localization in one-, two-, and three-dimensional networks, the band structures of periodic and quasiperiodic networks, and the angular moment-dependent topological transport in transmission line network. We introduce the methods and results in detail to show the potential of transmission lines in basic scientific research.