Gauge-field-induced duality group in metamaterials

Nature Communications, Published online: 18 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-73117-w Research on dualities is commonly restricted to one-to-one mappings. Here, by incorporating artificial gauge fields, the authors demonstrate 2D and 3D acoustic metamaterials enabling ℤ2 × ℤ2 and (ℤ2)6 duality groups, respectively, where distinct structures share identical band structures, and self-duality gives rise to symmetry-protected high-order degeneracies.