Simulating non-Hermitian quasicrystals with single-photon quantum walks

Abstract

Non-Hermiticity significantly enriches the properties of topological models, leading to exotic features such as the non-Hermitian skin effects and non-Bloch bulk-boundary correspondence that have no counterparts in Hermitian settings. Its impact is particularly illustrating in non-Hermitian quasicrystals where the interplay between non-Hermiticity and quasiperiodicity results in the concurrence of the delocalization-localization transition, the parity-time (PT)-symmetry breaking, and the onset of the non-Hermitian skin effects. Here we experimentally simulate non-Hermitian quasicrystals using photonic quantum walks. Using dynamic observables, we demonstrate that the system can transit from a delocalized, PT-symmetry broken phase that features non-Hermitian skin effects, to a localized, PT-symmetry unbroken phase with no non-Hermitian skin effects. The measured critical point is consistent with the theoretical prediction through a spectral winding number, confirming the topological origin of the phase transition. Our work opens the avenue of investigating the interplay of non-Hermiticity, quasiperiodicity, and spectral topology in open quantum systems.

arXiv comment10 pages, 7 figures. In the updated version, we add new experimental evidence for the presence of a mobility edge in quantum-walk dynamics

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Cited by in corpus (63)

• Topological Non-Hermitian skin effect
• Anomalous Skin Effects in Disordered Systems with a Single non-Hermitian Impurity
• Critical phase dualities in 1D exactly-solvable quasiperiodic models
• Non-Hermitian Floquet Topological Matter -- A Review
• Review on Quantum Walk Computing: Theory, Implementation, and Application
• A comprehensive review on developments of synthetic dimensions
• Proposal for Observing Yang-Lee Criticality in Rydberg Atomic Arrays
• Non-Hermitian skin effects on many-body localized and thermal phases
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