Free electron topological bound state induced by light beam with a twisted wavefront

Free electron topological bound state induced by light beam with a twisted wavefront | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Free electron topological bound state induced by light beam with a twisted wavefront Yiming Pan, Ruoyu Yin, Yongcheng Ding, Huaiqiang Wang, Daniel Podolsky, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4851760/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Recent advances in ultrafast electron emission, microscopy, and diffraction have demonstrated a remarkable ability to manipulate free electrons with quantum coherence using light beams. Here, we present a framework for exploring free electron quantum number in ultrafast electron-light interactions. We derive an explicit Jackiw-Rebbi solution for a low-energy free electron wavefunction subjected to a spatiotemporally twisted laser field, resulting in a flying topologically protected bound state with a quantum number of e/2 – termed a “half-electron”. This flying bound state is dispersion-free due to its topological nature. We demonstrate the topological confinement and pair generation mechanism of half-electrons in free space, expanding their domain beyond the topological states typically found in solids and photonics. This advancement enhances our understanding of emulating exotic quantum and topological effects with low-energy free electrons. Physical sciences/Optics and photonics/Optical physics/Ultrafast photonics Physical sciences/Physics/Quantum physics/Quantum mechanics Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files halfelectronAug02SM.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4851760","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":344287089,"identity":"f87d7df2-5a73-4b45-b70a-402053b2df8d","order_by":0,"name":"Yiming Pan","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4391-0226","institution":"ShanghaiTech University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yiming","middleName":"","lastName":"Pan","suffix":""},{"id":344287090,"identity":"8a4ec234-b261-4cc9-9d7f-41f06c5a278c","order_by":1,"name":"Ruoyu Yin","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5379-0091","institution":"Bar Ilan University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ruoyu","middleName":"","lastName":"Yin","suffix":""},{"id":344287091,"identity":"a451bf6f-da0f-417b-85e5-8e95ba2b1e00","order_by":2,"name":"Yongcheng Ding","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yongcheng","middleName":"","lastName":"Ding","suffix":""},{"id":344287092,"identity":"33315e31-6464-4ca8-8236-2fdbb79076ff","order_by":3,"name":"Huaiqiang Wang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Nanjing Normal University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Huaiqiang","middleName":"","lastName":"Wang","suffix":""},{"id":344287093,"identity":"33f3a9d3-c72d-4bf7-9af4-a72a268a4644","order_by":4,"name":"Daniel Podolsky","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6428-2957","institution":"Technion - 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