Non-Hermitian physics without gain or loss: the skin effect of reflected waves

Physically, one tends to think of non-Hermitian systems in terms of gain and loss: the decay or amplification of a mode is given by the imaginary part of its energy. Here, we introduce an alternative avenue to the realm of non-Hermitian physics, which involves neither gain nor loss. Instead, complex...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:arXiv.org 2022-08
Main Authors: Franca, S, Könye, V, Hassler, F, van den Brink, J, Fulga, I C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amplification
Backscattering
Eigenvalues
Physics
Reflected waves
Skin effect
Topological insulators
Topology
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Physically, one tends to think of non-Hermitian systems in terms of gain and loss: the decay or amplification of a mode is given by the imaginary part of its energy. Here, we introduce an alternative avenue to the realm of non-Hermitian physics, which involves neither gain nor loss. Instead, complex eigenvalues emerge from the amplitudes and phase-differences of waves backscattered from the boundary of insulators. We show that for any strong topological insulator in a Wigner-Dyson class, the reflected waves are characterized by a reflection matrix exhibiting the non-Hermitian skin effect. This leads to an unconventional Goos-H\"{a}nchen effect: due to non-Hermitian topology, waves undergo a lateral shift upon reflection, even at normal incidence. Going beyond systems with gain and loss vastly expands the set of experimental platforms that can access non-Hermitian physics and show signatures associated to non-Hermitian topology.
ISSN:2331-8422
DOI:10.48550/arxiv.2111.02263