The first and most direct analogy involves the way that waves travel through an expanding medium. (sciencedaily.com)
Specifically, the authors explain that this phenomenon takes place when a physical system, which initially forms an exotic state of matter (a topological phase), is heated up in a controlled manner; upon heating, particles are ejected from the topological phase (in direct analogy with the melting of ice described above) and the corresponding heating rate is shown to satisfy the aforementioned quantization law. (sciencedaily.com)
A crucial aspect of this novel quantization law is that it is dictated by the topological nature of the initial phase of the system, in direct analogy with the quantization of the conductance in solids. (sciencedaily.com)