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Topological Insulator — Edge-State Protection Lab

Interactive 2D lattice slab: sprinkle disorder defects by slider or click, then watch a bulk electron backscatter and localize while a boundary electron sails past every defect unharmed — until you flip the sample to a trivial insulator and the protection vanishes.

Physics & Mechanics3DAdvanced60 FPS

A 2D crystal slab rendered as a lattice of sites, some marked as scattering defects by a density slider or a direct click. A bulk electron wavepacket performs a random walk through the interior and backscatters off every defect it meets, localizing in place as disorder grows. A second electron rides the sample's boundary channel; toggle the sample between a topological insulator, where that channel is protected and shrugs off every defect, and a trivial insulator, where the same boundary carrier scatters and localizes just like the bulk one.

⚙ Under the hood

A 2D lattice slab where you sprinkle disorder defects by slider or click: a bulk electron backscatters and localizes, while a boundary electron rides a topologically protected channel and sails through every defect — until you flip the sample to a trivial insulator and the protection vanishes.

topological insulatoredge statesbulk-edge correspondenceAnderson localizationdisordercondensed matter3D

3D · Three.js / WebGL renderer · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install