Interaction-induced topological states of photon pairs

To date, the concept of topological order relies heavily on the properties of single-particle bands. Only recently it has been realized that interactions can have a dramatic impact on topological properties, not only modifying the topology of the bands but also creating a topological order in an otherwise trivial system. Applying an extended version of the Bose-Hubbard model, we investigate a system which, being topologically trivial in the single-particle regime, harbors topologically nontrivial edge and interface states of repulsively bound photon pairs. Whereas binding of the photons in this model is captured by the standard local interaction term, an additional direct two-photon hopping renders the system topologically nontrivial. Besides their interaction-induced origin, predicted two-photon edge states exhibit a range of other unexpected features, including the robustness to collapse of the corresponding bulk band and the ability to coexist with the continuum of two-photon scattering states forming a bound state in the continuum. Performing rigorous calculation of the Zak phase for bound photon pairs, we prove the topological origin of the two-photon edge states.