The role of seismic metamaterials on soil dynamics

The abstract describes how ideas from electromagnetic metamaterials can be translated to control surface seismic waves in sedimentary soils structured at the meter scale. It references large-scale experiments near Lyon and Grenoble that confirmed the usefulness of this methodology and its potential influence on soil–structure interaction. Building on the Lyon in-situ work, the authors present a new perspective that unveils “energy corridors” in the seismic lens. They also introduce a concept of a time-modulated seismic metamaterial, supported by an effective model based on Willis’s equations. As a first application, the abstract proposes that ambient seismic noise can time-modulate structured soils, treating them as moving media. It further proposes an analogous “seismic computer” using ambient seismic noise and suggests that seismic signals between remote seismic computers could support an Internet-of-Things style concept, alongside potential uses for shielding, lensing, cloaking, and energy harvesting.