Observation of Non-Hermitian Topology with Nonunitary Dynamics of Solid-State Spins
At a Glance
Section titled âAt a Glanceâ| Metadata | Details |
|---|---|
| Publication Date | 2021-08-23 |
| Journal | Physical Review Letters |
| Authors | Wengang Zhang, Xiaolong Ouyang, Xianzhi Huang, Xin Wang, Huili Zhang |
| Institutions | Tsinghua University, ShangHai JiAi Genetics & IVF Institute |
| Citations | 82 |
Abstract
Section titled âAbstractâNon-Hermitian topological phases exhibit a number of exotic features that have no Hermitian counterparts, including the skin effect and breakdown of the conventional bulk-boundary correspondence. Here, we implement the non-Hermitian Su-Schrieffer-Heeger Hamiltonian, which is a prototypical model for studying non-Hermitian topological phases, with a solid-state quantum simulator consisting of an electron spin and a ^{13}C nuclear spin in a nitrogen-vacancy center in a diamond. By employing a dilation method, we realize the desired nonunitary dynamics for the electron spin and map out its spin texture in the momentum space, from which the corresponding topological invariant can be obtained directly. From the measured spin textures with varying parameters, we observe both integer and fractional winding numbers. The non-Hermitian topological phase with fractional winding number cannot be continuously deformed to any Hermitian topological phase and is intrinsic to non-Hermitian systems. Our result paves the way for further exploiting and understanding the intriguing properties of non-Hermitian topological phases with solid-state spins or other quantum simulation platforms.
Tech Support
Section titled âTech SupportâOriginal Source
Section titled âOriginal SourceâReferences
Section titled âReferencesâ- 2011 - Non-Hermitian Quantum Mechanics [Crossref]