Antiferromagnetism and spin excitations in a two-dimensional non-Hermitian Hatano-Nelson flux model

Abstract

The one-dimensional Hatano-Nelson model with non-reciprocal hoppings is a prominent example of a relatively simple non-Hermitian quantum-mechanical system, which allows to study various phenomena in open quantum systems without adding extra gain and loss terms. Here we propose to use it as a building block to construct a correlated non-Hermitian Hamiltonian in two dimensions. It has the characteristic form of a flux model with clock-anticlockwise non-reciprocal hopping on each plaquette. Adding the on-site Hubbard type interaction we analyze the formation of the longe-range antiferromagnetic order and its spin excitations. Such a model is non-Hermitian, but $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric, which leads to the existence of two regions: a region of unbroken $\mathcal{PT}$ symmetry (real-valued spectrum) and a region of broken $\mathcal{PT}$ symmetry with exceptional lines and complex-valued energy spectrum. The transition from one region to another is controlled by the value of the on-site interaction parameter and coincides with the metal-insulator transition. We also analyze the spin wave spectrum, which is characterized by two diffusive d-wave type of modes corresponding to gain and loss.