Non-Hermitian Chiral Skin Effect

Abstract

The interplay between non-Hermitian effects and topological insulators has become a frontier of research in non-Hermitian physics. However, the existence of a non-Hermitian skin effect for topological-protected edge states remains controversial. In this paper, we discover an alternative form of the non-Hermitian skin effect called the non-Hermitian chiral skin effect (NHCSE). NHCSE is a non-Hermitian skin effect under periodic boundary condition rather than open boundary condition. Specifically, the chiral modes of the NHCSE localize around \textquotedblleft topological defects\textquotedblright characterized by global dissipation rather than being confined to the system boundaries. We show its detailed physical properties by taking the non-Hermitian Haldane model as an example. As a result, the intrinsic mechanism of the hybrid skin-topological effect in Chern insulators is fully understood via NHCSE. Therefore, this progress will be helpful for solving the controversial topic of hybrid skin-topological effect and thus benefit the research on both non-Hermitian physics and topological quantum states.