Phase transitions in a non-Hermitian Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model via Krylov spread complexity

Abstract

We investigate phase transitions in a non-Hermitian Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) model with an imaginary chemical potential via Krylov spread complexity and Krylov fidelity. The spread witnesses the $\mathcal{PT}$-transition for the non-Hermitian Bogoliubov vacuum of the SSH Hamiltonian, where the spectrum goes from purely real to complex (oscillatory dynamics to damped oscillations). In addition, it also witnesses the transition occurring in the $\mathcal{PT}$-broken phase, where the spectrum goes from complex to purely imaginary (damped oscillations to sheer decay). For a purely imaginary spectrum, the Krylov spread fidelity, which measures how the time-dependent spread reaches its stationary state value, serves as a probe of previously undetected dynamical phase transitions.