Non-Hermitian $\mathbb{Z}_4$ skin effect protected by glide symmetry

Abstract

Although nonsymmorphic symmetry protects $\mathbb{Z}_4$ topology for Hermitian systems, non-Hermitian topological phenomena induced by such a unique topological structure remain elusive. In this paper, we elucidate that systems with glide symmetry exhibit non-Hermitian skin effects (NHSE) characterized by $\mathbb{Z}_4$ topology. Specifically, numerically analyzing a two-dimensional toy model, we demonstrate that the $\mathbb{Z}_4$ topology induces the NHSE when the topological invariant takes $\nu=1,2$. Furthermore, our numerical analysis demonstrates that the NHSE is destroyed by perturbations preserving the relevant symmetry when the $\mathbb{Z}_4$-invariant takes $\nu=4$.