We investigate disorder effects on Landau levels in Dirac electron systems with the use of a non-Hermitian quasiparticle Hamiltonian formalism. This formalism reveals that spin-dependent scattering rates induce the spectrum collapse of Landau levels, i.e., the disappearance of the energy gaps between n-th and -n-th levels under a finite external magnetic field. The spectrum collapse occurs in both weak and strong magnetic field regimes, thus showing a reentrant behavior. Particularly, in the strong magnetic field regime, in contrast to naive expectation, the increase of a magnetic field stabilizes the spectrum collapse of Dirac Landau levels. Furthermore, it is revealed that the spectrum collapse is associated with the emergence of a vortex texture with a topological winding number of a complex energy spectrum of the non-Hermitian system.
We investigate, analytically and numerically, the effects of disorder on the density of states and on the localization properties of the relativistic two dimensional fermions in the lowest Landau level. Employing a supersymmetric technique, we calculate the exact density of states for the Cauchy (Lorentzian) distribution for various types of disorders. We use a numerical technique to establish the localization-delocalization (LD) transition in the lowest Landau level. For some types of disorder the LD transition is shown to belong to a different universality class, as compared to the correspon…
Motivated by recent experiments on Kondo insulators, we theoretically study quantum oscillations from disorder-induced in-gap states in small-gap insulators. By solving a non-Hermitian Landau level problem that incorporates the imaginary part of electron's self-energy, we show that the oscillation period is determined by the Fermi surface area in the absence of the hybridization gap, and derive an analytical formula for the oscillation amplitude as a function of the indirect band gap, scattering rates, and temperature. Over a wide parameter range, we find that the effective mass is controlled …
The generalized bulk-boundary correspondence predicts the existence of the chiral hinge states in three-dimensional second-order topological insulators (3DSOTIs), resulting in a quantized Hall effect in three dimensions. Chiral hinge states in Hermitian 3DSOTIs are characterized by the quantized transmission coefficients with zero fluctuations, even in the presence of disorders. Here, we show that chiral hinge transport in disordered non-Hermitian systems deviates from the paradigm of the Hermitian case. Our numerical calculations prove the robustness of hinge states of disordered non-Hermitia…
There is a common belief in the condensed matter community that bulk quantities become insensitive to the boundary condition in the infinite-volume limit. Here we reconsider this statement in terms of recent arguments of non-Hermitian skin effects, -strong dependence of spectra on boundary conditions for the non-Hermitian Hamiltonians-, in the traditional Green's function formalism. We find the criterion for quantities to be sensitive/insensitive against the boundary condition in Hermitian correlated/disordered systems, which is characterized by the residue theorem. We also discuss the uncerta…
We investigate intra-Landau-level collective excitations in a bilayer disordered two-dimensional electron system exposed to a perpendicular magnetic field. The energy spectrum is calculated within the random phase approximation by taking into account electron-impurity scattering in the self-consistent Born approximation which includes consistent vertex corrections. Signatures of these bilayer excitations in drag and collective excitation measurements are identified.
Eigenspectra that fill regions in the complex plane have been intriguing to many, inspiring research from random matrix theory to esoteric semi-infinite bounded non-Hermitian lattices. In this work, we propose a simple and robust ansatz for constructing models whose eigenspectra fill up generic prescribed regions. Our approach utilizes specially designed non-Hermitian random couplings that allow the co-existence of eigenstates with a continuum of localization lengths, mathematically emulating the effects of semi-infinite boundaries. While some of these couplings are necessarily long-ranged, th…
We employ the fermionic and bosonic replicated nonlinear sigma models to treat Ginibre unitary, symplectic, and orthogonal ensembles of non-Hermitian random matrix Hamiltonians. Using saddle point approach combined with Borel resummation procedure we derive the exact large-N results for microscopic density of states in all three ensembles. We also obtain tails of the density of states as well the two-point function for the unitary ensemble.
We show that Dirac fermion systems in two dimensions generally exhibit disorder-induced nodal arc replacing the nodal point and tilted Dirac cone, provided that the two components of the Dirac fermion correspond to two distinct orbitals unrelated by symmetry. This result is explicitly demonstrated using renormalization group analysis in a disordered Dirac model that we introduce, where the disorder potential acts differently on the two orbitals. As we show by numerical simulations and self-consistent Born approximation calculation, this drives the system into a new strongly disordered phase.
We present an analytical study of the Lyapunov exponent for electronic states in a disordered tight-binding ring, with N sites of spacing c, in the presence of a non-hermitian field component h, for weak disorder. This system has been proposed by Hatano and Nelson (HN) as a model for the depinning of flux lines bound to columnar defects in a superconducting cylindrical shell in a transverse magnetic field proportional to h. We calculate the Lyapunov exponent to second order in the disorder in the domain of complex energies in an ordered ring in a non-hermitian field. The result exhibits an imp…
We demonstrate the occurrence of nodal non-Hermitian (NH) phases featuring exceptional degeneracies in chiral-symmetric disordered quantum wires, where NH physics naturally arises from the self-energy in a disorder-averaged Green's function description. Notably, we find that at least two nodal points in the clean Hermitian system are required for exceptional points to be effectively stabilized upon adding disorder. We identify and study experimental signatures of our theoretical findings both in the spectral functions and in mesoscopic quantum transport properties of the considered systems. Ou…
Advanced Institute for Materials Research (WPI-AIMR), Tohoku University（东北大学先进物质研究所）；Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light（马克斯·普朗克光科学研究所）；Department of Physics, Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg（埃尔朗根-纽伦堡弗里德里希·亚历山大大学物理系）；RIKEN Center for Interdisciplinary Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences (iTHEMS), RIKEN（理化学研究所跨学科理论与数学科学中心）
We show that due to the Landau band mixing the eigenstate localization within the disordered bands get an asymmetric structure: the degree of localization increases in the lower part of the band and decreases in the upper one. The calculation is performed for a 2D lattice with the Anderson disorder potential and we prove that this effect is related to the upper shift of the extended states within the band and is enhanced by the disorder strength. The asymmetric localization and the energy shift dissapear when the interband coupling is switched off.
We study the electronic transport in the lowest Landau level of disordered two-dimensional semimetals placed in a homogeneous perpendicular magnetic field. The material system is modeled by the Bernevig-Hughes-Zhang Hamiltonian, which has zero energy Landau modes due to the material's intrinsic Berry curvature. These turn out to be crucially important for the density of states and the static conductivity of the disordered system. We develop an analytical approach to the diffusion and conductivity based on a self-consistent equation of motion for the mean squared displacement. The obtained valu…
We investigate the validity of the non-Hermitian Hamiltonian approach in describing quantum transport in disordered tight-binding networks connected to external environments, acting as sinks. Usually, non-Hermitian terms are added, on a phenomenological basis, to such networks to summarize the effects of the coupling to the sinks. Here we consider a paradigmatic model of open quantum network for which we derive a non-Hermitian effective model, discussing its limit of validity by a comparison with the analysis of the full Hermitian model. Specifically, we consider a ring of sites connected to a…
Alternating current RLC electric circuits form an accessible and highly tunable platform simulating Hermitian as well as non-Hermitian (nH) quantum systems. We propose here a circuit realization of nH Dirac and Weyl Hamiltonians subject to time-reversal invariant pseudo-magnetic field, enabling the exploration of novel nH physics. We identify the low-energy physics with a generic real energy spectrum from the nH Landau quantization of exceptional points and rings, which can avoid the nH skin effect and provides a physical example of a quasiparticle moving in the complex plane. Realistic detect…
We report on robust features of the longitudinal conductivity ($σ_{xx}$) of the graphene zero-energy Landau level in presence of disorder and varying magnetic fields. By mixing an Anderson disorder potential with a low density of sublattice impurities, the transition from metallic to insulating states is theoretically explored as a function of Landau-level splitting, using highly efficient real-space methods to compute the Kubo conductivities (both $σ_{xx}$ and Hall $σ_{xy}$). As long as valley-degeneracy is maintained, the obtained critical conductivity $σ_{xx}\simeq 1.4 e^{2}/h$ is robust up…
The interplay among topology, disorder, and non-Hermiticity can induce some exotic topological and localization phenomena. Here we investigate this interplay in a two-dimensional non-Hermitian disordered Chern-insulator model with two typical kinds of non-Hermiticities, the nonreciprocal hopping and on-site gain-and-loss effects. The topological phase diagrams are obtained by numerically calculating two topological invariants in the real space, which are the disorder-averaged open-bulk Chern number and the generalized Bott index, respectively. We reveal that the nonreciprocal hopping (the gain…
The Landauer "residual resistivity dipole" is a well-known concept in electron transport through a disordered medium. It is formed when a defect/scatterer reflects an impinging electron causing negative charges to build up on one side of the scatterer and positive charges on the other. This results in the formation of a microscopic electric dipole that affects the resistivity of the medium. Here, we show that an equivalent entity forms in spin polarized electron transport through the surface of a disordered topological insulator (TI). When electrons reflect from a scatterer on the TI surface, …
We investigate the emergence of long-range electron hopping mediated by cavity vacuum fields in disordered quantum Hall systems. We show that the counter-rotating (anti-resonant) light-matter interaction produces an effective hopping between disordered eigenstates within the last occupied Landau band. The process involves a number of intermediate states equal to the Landau degeneracy: each of these states consists of a virtual cavity photon and an electron excited in the next Landau band with the same spin. We study such a cavity-mediated hopping mechanism in the dual presence of a random diso…
Absence of level repulsion between extended states in random non-Hermitian systems is demonstrated. As a result, the general Wigner-Dyson distributions of level spacing of diffusive metals in the usual Hermitian systems is replaced by the Poisson distribution for quasiparticle level spacing of non-Hermitian disordered metals in the thermodynamic limit of infinite system size. This is a very surprising result because Poisson statistics is universally true for the Anderson insulators where energy eigenstates do not overlap with each other so that energy levels are independent from each other.For…
We study the dissipative and Hall viscosity of a disordered noninteracting 2D electrons, both analytically and numerically. Analytically, we employ the self-consistent Born approximation, explicitly taking into account the modification of the single-particle density of states and the elastic transport time due to the Landau quantization. The reported results interpolate smoothly between the limiting cases of weak (strong) magnetic field and strong (weak) disorder. In the regime of weak magnetic field, our results describes the quantum (de Haas-van Alphen type) oscillations of the dissipative a…
We study Landau-Zener macroscopic quantum transitions in ferromagnetic metal nanoparticles containing on the order of 100 atoms. The model that we consider is described by an effective giant-spin Hamiltonian, with a coupling to a random transverse magnetic field mimicking the effect of quasiparticle excitations and structural disorder on the gap structure of the spin collective modes. We find different types of time evolutions depending on the interplay between the disorder in the transverse field and the initial conditions of the system. In the absence of disorder, if the system starts from a…
The Landauer formula provides a general scattering formulation of electrical conduction. Despite its utility, it has been mainly applied to the linear-response regime, and a scattering theory of nonlinear response has yet to be fully developed. Here, we extend the Landauer formula to the nonlinear-response regime. We show that while the linear conductance is directly related to the transmission probability, the nonlinear conductance is given by its derivatives with respect to energy. This sensitivity to the energy derivatives is shown to produce unique nonlinear transport phenomena of mesoscop…
Non-Hermitian systems can exhibit unique topological and localization properties. Here we elucidate the non-Hermitian effects on disordered topological systems by studying a non-Hermitian disordered Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model with nonreciprocal hoppings. We show that the non-Hermiticity can enhance the topological phase against disorders by increasing energy gaps. Moreover, we uncover a topological phase which emerges only under both moderate non-Hermiticity and disorders, and is characterized by localized insulating bulk states with a disorder-averaged winding number and zero-energy edge mode…
The presence of strong disorder in graphene nanoribbons yields low-mobility diffusive transport at high charge densities, whereas a transport gap occurs at low densities. Here, we investigate the longitudinal and transverse magnetoresistance of a narrow (60 nm) nanoribbon in a six-terminal Hall bar geometry. At B= 11 T, quantum Hall plateaux appear at $σ_{xy}=\pm2e^2/h$, $\pm6e^2/h$ and $\pm10e^2/h$, for which the Landau level spacing is larger than the Landau level broadening. Interestingly, the transport gap does not disappear in the quantum Hall regime, when the zero-energy Landau level is …
Charge density waves are thought to be common in two-dimensional electron systems in quantizing magnetic fields. Such phases are formed by the quasiparticles of the topmost occupied Landau level when it is partially filled. One class of charge density wave phases can be described as electron solids. In weak magnetic fields (at high Landau levels) solids with many particles per unit cell - bubble phases - predominate. In strong magnetic fields (at the lowest Landau level) only crystals with one particle per unit cell - Wigner crystals - can form. Experimental identification of these phases is f…
Recent studies of disorder or non-Hermiticity induced topological insulators inject new ingredients for engineering topological matter. Here we consider the effect of purely non-Hermitian disorders, a combination of these two ingredients, in a 1D coupled-cavity array with disordered gain and loss. Topological photonic states can be induced by increasing gain-loss disorder strength with topological invariants carried by localized states in the complex bulk spectra. The system showcases rich phase diagrams and distinct topological states from Hermitian disorders. The non-Hermitian critical behav…
Models of disorder with a direction (constant imaginary vector-potential) are considered. These non-Hermitian models can appear as a result of computation for models of statistical physics using transfer matrix technique or describe non-equilibrium processes. Eigenenergies of non-Hermitian Hamiltonians are not necessarily real and a joint probability density function of complex eigenvalues can characterize basic properties of the systems. This function is studied using the supersymmetry technique and a supermatrix $σ$-model is derived. The $σ$-model differs from already known by a new term. Th…
In a Hermitian system, bound states must have quantized energies, whereas extended states can form a continuum. We demonstrate how this principle fails for non-Hermitian systems, by analyzing non-Hermitian continuous Hamiltonians with an imaginary momentum and Landau-type vector potential. The eigenstates, which we call ``continuum Landau modes'' (CLMs), have gaussian spatial envelopes and form a continuum filling the complex energy plane. We present experimentally-realizable 1D and 2D lattice models that can be used to study CLMs; the lattice eigenstates are localized and have other features …
When one applies a type of non-Hermitian effect, constant imaginary vector potential, to disordered systems, delocalization is induced even in two or lower dimension. By using the non-Hermitian induced transition as a probe, We propose a new procedure of estimating localization in arbitrary-dimensional systems. By examining numerically the two-dimensional non-Hermitian tight-biding model with onsite disorder, it is shown that the failure of absorbing the non-Hermitian effect, namely the breakdown of the imaginary gauge transformation, characterize the inverse localization length near the band …
Non-Hermitian systems, which contain gain or loss, commonly host exceptional point degeneracies rather than the diabolic points found in Hermitian systems. We present a class of non-Hermitian lattice models with symmetry-stabilized diabolic points, such as Dirac or Weyl points. They exhibit non-Hermiticity-induced phenomena previously existing in the Hermitian regime, including topological phase transitions, Landau levels induced by pseudo-magnetic fields, and Fermi arc surface states. These behaviors are controllable via gain and loss, with promising applications in tunable active topological…
The statistical properties of the dynamics of energy levels are investigated in the case of two two-dimensional disordered quantum dot models with nearest neighbor hopping subjected to external time-dependent perturbations. While in the first model the external drivings are realized by a continuous variation of the on-site energies, in the second one it is generated by deformations of a parabolic potential. We concentrate on the effects of the potential on the localization properties and investigate the statistics of the energy level velocities and curvatures regarding their typical magnitudes…
Oscillatory variations of the diagonal ($G_{xx}$) and Hall ($G_{xy}$) magnetoconductances are discussed in view of topological scaling effects giving rise to the quantum Hall effect. They occur in a field range without oscillations of the density of states due to Landau quantization, and are, therefore, totally different from the Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations. Such oscillations are experimentally observed in disordered GaAs layers in the extreme quantum limit of applied magnetic field with a good description by the unified scaling theory of the integer and fractional quantum Hall effect.
The Aubry-André-Harper (AAH) model with a self-dual symmetry plays an important role in studying the Anderson localization. Here we find a self-dual symmetry determining the quantum phase transition between extended and localized states in a non-Hermitian AAH model and show that the eigenenergies of these states are characterized by two types of winding numbers. By constructing and studying a non-Hermitian generalized AAH model, we further generalize the notion of the mobility edge, which separates the localized and extended states in the energy spectrum of disordered systems, to the non-Hermi…
We introduce a topological theory to study quasiparticles in interacting and/or disordered many-body systems, which have a finite lifetime due to inelastic and/or elastic scattering. The one-body quasiparticle Hamiltonian includes both the Bloch Hamiltonian of band theory and the self-energy due to interactions, which is non-Hermitian when quasiparticle lifetime is finite. We study the topology of non-Hermitian quasiparticle Hamiltonians in momentum space, whose energy spectrum is complex. The interplay of band structure and quasiparticle lifetime is found to have remarkable consequences in ze…
Non-Hermitian skin effect exhibits the collapse of the extended bulk modes into the extensive number of localized boundary states in open boundary conditions. Here we demonstrate the disorder-driven phase transition of the trivial non-Hermitian system to the higher-order non-Hermitian skin effect phase. In contrast to the clean systems, the disorder-induced boundary modes form an arc in the complex energy plane, which is the manifestation of the disorder-driven dynamical phase transition. At the phase transition, the localized corner modes and bulk modes characterized by trivial Hamiltonian co…
In this article we present numerical results of conduction in a disordered quasi-1D wire in the possible presence of magnetic impurities. Our analysis leads us to the study of universal properties in different conduction regimes such as the localized and metallic ones. In particular, we analyse the cross-over between universality classes occurring when the strength of magnetic disorder is increased. For this purpose, we use a numerical Landauer approach, and derive the scattering matrix of the wire from electron's Green's function.
We study the transport and spectral properties of a non-Hermitian one-dimensional disordered lattice, the diagonal matrix elements of which are random complex variables taking both positive (loss) and negative (gain) imaginary values: Their distribution is either the usual rectangular one or a binary pair-correlated one possessing, in its Hermitian version, delocalized states, and unusual transport properties. Contrary to the Hermitian case, all states in our non-Hermitian system are localized. In addition, the eigenvalue spectrum, for the binary pair-correlated case, exhibits an unexpected in…
We investigate the impact on basic quantum transport properties of disorder-induced exceptional points (EPs) that emerge in a disorder-averaged Green's function description of two-dimensional (2D) Dirac semimetals with spin- or orbital-dependent potential scattering. Remarkably, we find that EPs may promote the nearly vanishing conductance of a finite sample at the Dirac point to a sizable value that increases with disorder strength. This striking behavior exhibits a strong directional anisotropy that is closely related to the Fermi arcs connecting the EPs. We corroborate our results by numeri…
Disorder and non-Hermiticity dramatically impact the topological and localization properties of a quantum system, giving rise to intriguing quantum states of matter. The rich interplay of disorder, non-Hermiticity, and topology is epitomized by the recently proposed non-Hermitian topological Anderson insulator that hosts a plethora of exotic phenomena. Here we experimentally simulate the non-Hermitian topological Anderson insulator using disordered photonic quantum walks, and characterize its localization and topological properties. In particular, we focus on the competition between Anderson l…
Non-Hermitian Hamiltonians are relevant to describe the features of a broad class of physical phenomena, ranging from photonics and atomic and molecular systems to nuclear physics and mesoscopic electronic systems. An important question relies on the understanding of the influence of curved background on the static and dynamical properties of non-Hermitian systems. In this work, we study the interplay of geometry and non-Hermitian dynamics by unveiling the existence of curvature-dependent non-Hermitian phase transitions. We investigate a prototypical model of Dirac fermions on a sphere with an…
