Robust topological temperature localization in thermal rock–paper–scissors chain

Emerging topological thermal physics has revolutionized thermal management with topological thermal metamaterials, but most of them only consider passive/static thermal diffusion. Inspired by ecological dynamics, we investigate the topological thermal physics in an active/dynamic three-body heat-transfer system connected with Peltier modules, in which the cyclic interaction is exemplified by the rock-paper-scissors (RPS) chain. Numerical simulations demonstrate a robust temperature localization phenomenon against parametric disturbance and structural perturbations, and topological phase transition in a thermal RPS chain is discussed via a topological band-theory analysis of the corresponding Hamiltonian. Our findings establish a framework for exploring dynamic topological phenomena in non-equilibrium thermal transport, offering new pathways for active thermal management.