We propose a type of elastic metamaterial comprising fluid-solid composite inclusions which can possess a negative shear modulus and negative mass density over a large frequency region. Such a material has the unique property that only transverse waves can propagate with a negative dispersion while longitudinal waves are forbidden. This leads to many interesting phenomena such as negative refraction, which is demonstrated by using a wedge sample and a significant amount of mode conversion from transverse waves to longitudinal waves that cannot occur on the interface of two natural solids.

By using the $\stackrel{\rightharpoonup }{k}·\stackrel{\rightharpoonup }{p}$ method, we propose a first-principles theory to study the linear dispersions in phononic and photonic crystals. The theory reveals that only those linear dispersions created by doubly degenerate states can be described by a reduced Hamiltonian that can be mapped into the Dirac Hamiltonian and possess a Berry phase of $-\pi$. Linear dispersions created by triply degenerate states cannot be mapped into the Dirac Hamiltonian and carry no Berry phase, and, therefore should be called Dirac-like cones. Our theory is capable of predicting accurately the linear slopes of Dirac and Dirac-like cones at various symmetry points in a Brillouin zone, independent of frequency and lattice structure.

Topological insulators first observed in electronic systems have inspired many analogues in photonic and phononic crystals in which remarkable one-way propagation edge states are supported by topologically nontrivial band gaps. Such band gaps can be achieved by breaking the time-reversal symmetry to lift the degeneracy associated with Dirac cones at the corners of the Brillouin zone. Here, we report on our construction of a phononic crystal exhibiting a Dirac-like cone in the Brillouin zone center. We demonstrate that simultaneously breaking the time-reversal symmetry and altering the geometric size of the unit cell result in a topological transition that we verify by the Chern number calculation and edge-mode analysis. We develop a complete model based on the tight binding to uncover the physical mechanisms of the topological transition. Both the model and numerical simulations show that the topology of the band gap is tunable by varying both the velocity field and the geometric size; such tunability may dramatically enrich the design and use of acoustic topological insulators.