Non-local Optical Topological Transitions and Critical States in Electromagnetic Metamaterials

Just as the topology of the Fermi surface defines the properties of the free electrons in metals and semiconductors, the geometry of the iso-frequency surface in the phase space of the propagating electromagnetic waves, determines the optical properties of the corresponding optical materials. Furthermore, in the direct analog to the Lifshitz transition in condensed matter physics, a change in the topology of iso-frequency surface has a dramatic effect on the emission, propagation and scattering of the electromagnetic waves. Here, we uncover a new class of such optical topological transitions in metamaterials, induced by the non-locality of the electromagnetic response inherent to these composites.