Boundary-localized non-Hermitian modes in an absorbing quantum walk

Abstract

We introduce and solve from first principles a continuous-time quantum walk with absorption generated by a Lindblad boundary sink of arbitrary strength. Tracing out the sink maps the problem onto a non-Hermitian tight-binding Hamiltonian with a rank-one imaginary defect on the semi-infinite line. We obtain closed-form expressions for the exact propagator, from which the first-passage statistics follow. Weak coupling limits absorption through inefficient transfer into the sink, whereas for strong dissipation, occupation at the boundary is stunted by the emergence of a localized non-Hermitian mode. Despite the different physical origin of these suppression mechanisms, we show their respective absorption probabilities exhibit an asymptotic duality. The evolution is conveniently visualized in phase-space, where the non-Hermitian mode produces a Wigner droplet exponentially confined near the edge site.

5 pages, 2 figures