Non-Hermitian topological states in 2D line-graph lattices: Evolving triple exceptional points on reciprocal line graphs

Non-Hermitian (NH) topological states, such as the doubly-degenerate nodes dubbed as exceptional points (EPs) in Bloch band structure of 2D lattices driven by gain and loss, have attracted much recent interest. We demonstrate theoretically that in the three-site edge-centered lattices, i.e., the so-called line-graph lattices, such as Kagome lattice which is a line graph of hexagonal lattice, there exist three types of triply-degenerate EPs (TEPs) evolving intriguingly on another set of line graphs in the reciprocal space. A single TEP (STEP) with ±1/3 topological charge moves faithfully along the edges of reciprocal line graphs with varying gain and loss, while two STEPs merge distinctively into one unconventional orthogonal double TEP (DTEP) with ±2/3 charge at the vertices, which is characterized with two ordinary self-orthogonal eigenfunctions but one surprising “orthogonal” eigenfunction. Differently, in a modified line-graph lattice with an off-edge-center site, the ordinary coalesced state of DTEPs emerges with three identical self-orthogonal eigenfunctions. Such NH states and their evolution can be generally realized in various artificial systems, such as photonic and sonic crystals, where light and sonic vortex beams with different fractional twisting can be found. Our findings shed new light on fundamental understanding of gapless topological states in NH systems in terms of creation and evolution of high-order EPs, and open up new research directions to further link line graph and flow network theory coupled with topological physics, especially under non-equilibrium gain/loss conditions.

Bootstrapping Bloch bands

Bootstrap methods, initially developed for solving statistical and quantum field theories, have recently been shown to capture the discrete spectrum of quantum mechanical problems, such as the single particle Schrödinger equation with an anharmonic potential. The core of bootstrap methods builds on exact recursion relations of arbitrary moments of some quantum operator and the use of an adequate set of positivity criteria. We extend this methodology to models with continuous Bloch band spectra, by considering a single quantum particle in a periodic cosine potential. We find that the band structure can be obtained accurately provided the bootstrap uses moments involving both position and momentum variables. We also introduce several new techniques that can apply generally to other bootstrap studies. First, we devise a trick to reduce by one unit the dimensionality of the search space for the variables parametrizing the bootstrap. Second, we employ statistical techniques to reconstruct the distribution probability allowing to compute observables that are analytic functions of the canonical variables. This method is used to extract the Bloch momentum, a quantity that is not readily available from the bootstrap recursion itself.

Non-Hermitian Bulk-Boundary Correspondence and Singular Behaviors of Generalized Brillouin Zone

The bulk boundary correspondence, which connects the topological invariant, the continuum band and energies under different boundary conditions, is the core concept in the non-Bloch band theory, in which the generalized Brillouin zone (GBZ), appearing as a closed loop generally, is a fundamental tool to rebuild it. In this work, it can be shown that the recovery of the open boundary energy spectrum by the continuum band remains unchanged even if the GBZ itself shrinks into a point. Contrastively, if the bizarreness of the GBZ occurs, the winding number will become illness. Namely, we find that the bulk boundary correspondence can still be established whereas the GBZ has singularities from the perspective of the energy, but not from the topological invariant. Meanwhile, regardless of the fact that the GBZ comes out with the closed loop, the bulk boundary correspondence can not be well characterized yet because of the ill-definition of the topological number. Here, the results obtained may be useful for improving the existing non-Bloch band theory.

Evidence for an atomic chiral superfluid with topological excitations

Topological superfluidity is an important concept in electronic materials as well as ultracold atomic gases1. However, although progress has been made by hybridizing superconductors with topological substrates, the search for a material—natural or artificial—that intrinsically exhibits topological superfluidity has been ongoing since the discovery of the superfluid 3He-A phase2. Here we report evidence for a globally chiral atomic superfluid, induced by interaction-driven time-reversal symmetry breaking in the second Bloch band of an optical lattice with hexagonal boron nitride geometry. This realizes a long-lived Bose–Einstein condensate of 87Rb atoms beyond present limits to orbitally featureless scenarios in the lowest Bloch band. Time-of-flight and band mapping measurements reveal that the local phases and orbital rotations of atoms are spontaneously ordered into a vortex array, showing evidence of the emergence of global angular momentum across the entire lattice. A phenomenological effective model is used to capture the dynamics of Bogoliubov quasi-particle excitations above the ground state, which are shown to exhibit a topological band structure. The observed bosonic phase is expected to exhibit phenomena that are conceptually distinct from, but related to, the quantum anomalous Hall effect3–7 in electronic condensed matter.

A dark state of Chern bands: Designing flat bands with higher Chern number

We introduce a scheme by which flat bands with higher Chern number \vert C\vert>1|C|>1 can be designed in ultracold gases through a coherent manipulation of Bloch bands. Inspired by quantum-optics methods, our approach consists in creating a ``dark Bloch band" by coupling a set of source bands through resonant processes. Considering a \LambdaΛ system of three bands, the Chern number of the dark band is found to follow a simple sum rule in terms of the Chern numbers of the source bands: C_D\!=\!C_1+C_2-C_3CD=C1+C2−C3. Altogether, our dark-state scheme realizes a nearly flat Bloch band with predictable and tunable Chern number C_DCD. We illustrate our method based on a \LambdaΛ system, formed of the bands of the Harper-Hofstadter model, which leads to a nearly flat Chern band with C_D\!=\!2CD=2. We explore a realistic sequence to load atoms into the dark Chern band, as well as a probing scheme based on Hall drift measurements. Dark Chern bands offer a practical platform where exotic fractional quantum Hall states could be realized in ultracold gases.