Dynamic Moir\'{e}-like pattern in non-Hermitian Wannier-Stark ladder system

Abstract

We study the dynamical behavior of the non-Hermitian Wannier-Stark ladder system, which is a non-Hermitian Su-Schrieffer-Heeger chain with a position-dependent real potential. In the presence of a linear external field, we employ the non-Hermitian Floquet method and find that the energy levels are sensitive to the field. The system exhibits two distinct dynamic behaviors separated by an exceptional point: one in the $\mathcal{PT}$ symmetrical region associated with two real Wannier-Stark ladders, and another in the $\mathcal{PT}$\ symmetry-breaking region associated with complex conjugate ladders. As the boundary between the two regions, two ladders coalesce into a single ladder. In the case of a non-linear field, these two distinct regions appear alternately along the chain, exhibiting dynamic Moir\'{e}-like patterns.