The non-Hermitian skin effect is a unique feature of non-Hermitian systems, in which an extensive number of boundary modes appear under the open boundary conditions. Here, we discover higher-order counterparts of the non-Hermitian skin effect that exhibit new boundary physics. In two-dimensional systems with the system size $L \times L$, while the conventional (first-order) skin effect accompanies $O\,( L^{2} )$ skin modes, the second-order skin effect accompanies $O\,( L )$ corner skin modes. This also contrasts with Hermitian second-order topological insulators, in which only $O\,( 1 )$ corner zero modes appear. Moreover, for the third-order skin effect in three dimensions, $O\,( L )$ corner skin modes appear from all $O\,( L^{3} )$ modes. We demonstrate that the higher-order skin effect originates from intrinsic non-Hermitian topology protected by spatial symmetry. We also show that it accompanies the modification of the non-Bloch band theory in higher dimensions.
A unique feature of non-Hermitian systems is the skin effect, which is the extreme sensitivity to the boundary conditions. Here, we reveal that the skin effect originates from intrinsic non-Hermitian topology. Such a topological origin not merely explains the universal feature of the known skin effect, but also leads to new types of the skin effects---symmetry-protected skin effects. In particular, we discover the $\mathbb{Z}_{2}$ skin effect protected by time-reversal symmetry. On the basis of topological classification, we also discuss possible other skin effects in arbitrary dimensions. Our…
Constraints of internal symmetry on the non-Hermitian skin effect and bidirectional skin effect under the action of the Hermitian conjugate of time-reversal symmetry
We study the time evolution processes of non-Hermitian systems under the open boundary condition and confirm that the dynamical skin effect exists in non-Hermitian systems analytically, and unveil the mechanism of its formation, which is caused by both the non-Hermitian skin effect and the Hermitian wave packet spreading. Furthermore, we find that in contrast to the uniform speed motion in Hermitian situations, the Gaussian wave packet can be accelerated and amplified during its time evolution in non-Hermitian systems. This additional motion is found to be responsible for the dynamic skin effe…
A non-Hermitian topological insulator is fundamentally different from conventional topological insulators. The non-Hermitian skin effect arises in a nonreciprocal tight binding lattice with open edges. In this case, not only topological states but also bulk states are localized around the edges of the nonreciprocal system. We discuss that controllable switching from topological edge states into topological extended states in a chiral symmetric non-Hermitian system is possible. We show that the skin depth decreases with non-reciprocity for bulk states but increases with it for topological zero …
A hallmark of photonic transport in non-Hermitian lattices with asymmetric hopping is the robust unidirectional flow of light, which is responsible for important phenomena such as the non-Hermitian skin effect. Here we show that the same effect can be induced by stochastic fluctuations in lattices which maintain a symmetric hopping on average. We illustrate such a fluctuation-induced non-Hermitian transport by discussing stochastic funneling of light, in which light is pushed toward an interface by the stochastic-induced skin effect.
Non-Hermitian skin effect (NHSE) is a unique phenomenon studied intensively in non-Hermitian systems during the past few years. In this work, we discuss the energy dependence of NHSE by introducing nonreciprocity beyond the nearest-neighboring hopping in the one-dimensional lattices. The direction of NHSE reverses as the eigenenergy of the system under open boundary conditions (OBCs) sweeps across some critical energies. To characterize such a phenomenon, we introduce the concept of non-Hermitian skin effect edges, which separate the eigenstates localized at opposite ends of the lattice in the…
We study the geometric response of three-dimensional non-Hermitian crystalline systems with nontrivial point-gap topology. For systems with fourfold rotation symmetry, we show that in the presence of disclination lines with a total Frank angle which is an integer multiple of $2π$, there can be nontrivial one-dimensional point-gap topology along the direction of the disclination lines. This results in disclination-induced non-Hermitian skin effects. By doubling a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian to a Hermitian three-dimensional chiral topological insulator, we show that the disclination-induced skin m…
We explore absorbing open-boundary modes in non-Hermitian photonic systems. The modes have a continuum spectrum in the infinite system-size limit and can exhibit the non-Hermitian skin effect. In contrast to the conventional non-Hermitian skin modes under the fixed-end open-boundary condition, the modes concerned exhibit a strongly size-dependent spectrum that gradually converges to the non-Bloch-band dispersion. The modes correspond to the poles of the $S$ matrix, and are closely related to the lasing. We demonstrate these properties in a two-dimensional non-Hermitian photonic crystal with ga…
We construct a two-dimensional, discrete-time quantum walk exhibiting non-Hermitian skin effects under open-boundary conditions. As a confirmation of the non-Hermitian bulk-boundary correspondence, we show that the emergence of topological edge states are consistent with Floquet winding numbers calculated using a non-Bloch band theory invoking time-dependent generalized Billouin zones. Further, the non-Bloch topological invariants associated with quasienergy bands are captured by a non-Hermitian local Chern marker in real space, defined through local biorthogonal eigen wave functions of the no…
In this paper, we study the conditions under which on-site dissipations can induce non-Hermitian skin modes in non-Hermitian systems. When the original Hermitian Hamiltonian has spinless time-reversal symmetry, it is impossible to have skin modes; on the other hand, if the Hermitian Hamiltonian has spinful time-reversal symmetry, skin modes can be induced by on-site dissipations under certain circumstance. As a concrete example, we employ the Rice-Mele model to illustrate our results. Furthermore, we predict that the skin modes can be detected by the chiral tunneling effect, that is, the tunne…
Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo（东京大学工业科学研究所）；RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS)（理化学研究所新兴物质科学中心）；Department of Physics, Sophia University（上智大学物理系）；Institute for Solid State Physics, University of Tokyo（东京大学固体物理研究所）
One of the unique features of non-Hermitian Hamiltonians is the non-Hermitian skin effect, namely that the eigenstates are exponentially localized at the boundary of the system. For open quantum systems, a short-time evolution can often be well described by the effective non-Hermitian Hamiltonians, while long-time dynamics calls for the Lindblad master equations, in which the Liouvillian superoperators generate time evolution. In this Letter, we find that Liouvillian superoperators can exhibit the non-Hermitian skin effect, and uncover its unexpected physical consequences. It is shown that the…
In conventional Hermitian systems with the open boundary condition, Bloch's theorem is perturbatively broken down, which means although the crystal momentum is not a good quantum number, the eigenstates are the superposition of several extended Bloch waves. In this paper, we show that Bloch's theorem can be non-perturbatively broken down in some Hermitian Bosonic systems. The quasiparticles of the system are the superposition of localized non-Bloch waves, which are characterized by the complex momentum whose imaginary part determines the localization properties. Our work is a Hermitian general…
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…
Higher-order topology realizes topologically robust corner modes as a manifestation of nontriviality. We theoretically propose non-Hermitian skin effects which stem from second-order topology of chiral-symmetric Hermitian systems. It is found that the skin modes are localized at the corners. We demonstrate two types of second-order topological skin effects by two-dimensional intrinsic and extrinsic second-order topology. The intrinsic second-order topological skin effect is characterized topologically by bulk inversion symmetry as well as chiral symmetry. Meanwhile, the extrinsic second-order …
Non-Hermiticity greatly expands existing physical laws beyond the Hermitian framework, revealing various novel phenomena with unique properties. Up to now, most exotic nonHermitian effects, such as exceptional points and non-Hermitian skin effects, are discovered in single-particle systems. The interplay between non-Hermitian and manybody correlation is expected to be a more fascinating but much less explored area. Due to the complexity of the problem, current researches in this field mainly stay at the theoretical level. The experimental observation of predicted non-Hermitian manybody phases …
This work uncovers a new class of criticality where eigenenergies and eigenstates of non-Hermitian lattice systems jump discontinuously across a critical point in the thermodynamic limit, unlike established Hermitian and non-Hermitian critical scenarios where spectrum remains continuous across a transition. Such critical behavior, dubbed the "critical skin effect", is rather generic, occuring whenever subsystems with dissimilar non-Hermitian skin localization lengths are coupled, however weakly. Due to the existence of this criticality, the thermodynamic limit and the zero-coupling limit canno…
Non-Hermitian skin effect and critical skin effect are unique features of non-Hermitian systems. In this Letter, we study an open system with its dynamics of single-particle correlation function effectively dominated by a non-Hermitian damping matrix, which exhibits $\mathbb{Z}_2$ skin effect, and uncover the existence of a novel phenomenon of helical damping. When adding perturbations that break anomalous time reversal symmetry to the system, the critical skin effect occurs, which causes the disappearance of the helical damping in the thermodynamic limit although it can exist in small size sy…
The topological spin-Hall effect causes different spins to propagate in opposite directions based on Hermitian physics. The non-Hermitian skin effect causes the localization of a large number of modes of a system at its edges. Here we propose a system based on exciton-polariton elliptical micropillars hosting both the effects. The polarization splitting of the elliptical micropillars gives rise to the topological spin-Hall effect in a one dimensional lattice. When a circularly polarized external incoherent laser is used to imbalance effective decay rates of the different spin polarizations, th…
Non-Hermitian skin effect, which refers to the phenomenon that an extensive number of eigenstates are localized at the boundary, has been widely studied in lattice models and experimentally observed in several classical systems. In this work, we predict that the existence of the non-Hermitian skin effect in the dissipative ultracold fermions with spin-orbit coupling, a continuous model that has been implemented by the Hong-Kong group in a recent experiment. This skin effect is robust against the variation of external parameters and trapping potentials. We further reveal a dynamic sticky effect…
The skin effect and topological edge states in non-Hermitian system have been well-studied, and the second-order skin effect and corner modes have also been proposed in non-Hermitian system recently. In this paper, we construct the nested tight-binding formalism to research the second-order corner modes analytically, which is a direct description of the generic non-Hermitian tight-binding model without other assumptions. Within this formalism, we obtain the exact solutions of second-order topological zero-energy corner modes for the non-Hermitian four-band model. We validate the nested tight-b…
Skin effect, where macroscopically many bulk states are aggregated towards the system boundary, is one of the most important and distinguishing phenomena in non-Hermitian quantum systems. We discuss a new aspect of this effect whereby, despite its topological origin, applying magnetic field can largely suppress it. Skin states are pushed back into the bulk and the skin topological area, which we define, is sharply reduced. As seen from exact solutions of representative models this is fundamentally rooted in the fact that the applied magnetic field restores the validity of the low-energy descri…
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…
Absolute negative mobility (ANM) in nonequilibrium systems depicts the possibility of particles propagating toward the opposite direction of an external force. We uncover in this work a phenomenon analogous to ANM regarding eigenstate localization and particle transport in non-Hermitian systems under the influence of the non-Hermitian skin effect (NHSE). A coherent coupling between two non-Hermitian chains individually possessing the same preferred direction of NHSE is shown to cause a direction reversal of NHSE for all eigenmodes. This concept is further investigated in terms of time evolutio…
We present a one-dimensional coupled ring resonator lattice exhibiting a variant of the non- Hermitian skin effect (NHSE) that we call the anomalous Floquet NHSE. Unlike existing approaches to achieving the NHSE by engineering gain and loss on different ring segments, our design uses fixed on-site gain or loss in each ring. The anomalous Floquet NHSE is marked by the existence of skin modes at every value of the Floquet quasienergy, allowing for broadband asymmetric transmission. Varying the gain/loss induces a non-Hermitian topological phase transition, reversing the localization direction of…
Non-Hermitian systems show a non-Hermitian skin effect, where the bulk states are localized at a boundary of the systems with open boundary conditions. In this paper, we study dependence of the localization length of the eigenstates on a system size in a specific non-Hermitian model with a critical non-Hermitian skin effect, where the energy spectrum undergoes discontinuous transition in the thermodynamic limit. We analytically show that the eigenstates exhibit remarkable localization, known as scale-free localization, where the localization length is proportional to a system size. Our result …
We study nonreciprocal nonlinear Schrödinger systems. As a prototype we analyze the Hatano-Nelson model together with a typical nonlinear term introduced and its generalization to two dimensions. We employ the quench dynamics, where a pulse is given to one site and its time evolution is analyzed. It is found that the skin state is always formed due to the nonreciprocal hopping and hence that the system is topological. However, the structure of the skin state is essentially modified by the nonlinear interaction because it favors a self-trapping. Four typically different states emerge as an inte…
