Phonons and Topology in Chiral Systems*

Structural chirality plays an important role in determining various physical properties of materials and their potential functionalities. However, little consideration has been given to chirality-driven lattice and thermal properties. Here, the role of chirality in describing non-trivial topological vibrational properties of materials will be discussed. A comparison of the vibrational properties of materials with and without structural chirality will be developed and will be supported by corresponding inelastic neutron scattering measurements. The non-trivial topological features will be illustrated with the help of Wannier charge centers and non-zero Chern numbers.