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arXiv:2606.12961

Non-Hermitian skin effect induced by spatial noncommutativity

Zheng Wei, Su-Peng Kou

quant-phSubmitted Jun 11, 2026• Announced Jun 12, 2026
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

In all known schemes for the non-Hermitian skin effect, the non-Hermitian ingredient that drives the skin localization, whether asymmetric hopping or gain and loss, is invariably introduced by hand as an independent model parameter along the skin direction. Here we show that when two spatial coordinates do not commute, the skin effect can break free of this paradigm: a gain-loss potential applied along one coordinate automatically generates non-reciprocity along the other through the coordinate noncommutativity, driving all eigenstates to pile up exponentially at a boundary. We term this phenomenon the noncommutative skin effect. The inverse skin length is proportional to the noncommutativity parameter and is given by an analytic formula, exact in the thermodynamic limit and verified by exact diagonalization of lattice models; the reflection symmetry of the imaginary potential furnishes an exact criterion for the presence or absence of the effect, valid rigorously for finite-size systems. For a sinusoidal imaginary potential, the skin direction of all eigenstates flips collectively at parameter points fixed purely by geometry. Because the flip point is independent of the potential strength, the reversal constitutes a zero-crossing measurement scheme intrinsically robust against systematic errors, from which the noncommutativity parameter can be extracted directly. The qualitative transition of the eigenstates from uniform to exponentially localized renders the effect a nonperturbative probe of spatial noncommutativity, and the Peierls-phase structure of its lattice model is in principle accessible to cold-atom synthetic dimensions, photonic resonators, and topolectrical circuits.

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Non-Hermitian skin effect is one of the most captivating phenomena in non-Hermitian systems, characterized by the extensive localization of eigenstates near open boundaries. In its conventional form, the localization length of a skin mode is independent of the system size. Remarkably, however, when the open boundaries are coupled to realize a generalized boundary condition, the localization length can undergo a drastic transformation, becoming proportional to the system length. This intriguing regime is known as the scale-free skin effect (SFSE). Although SFSE has been observed in numerous one-dimensional non-Hermitian models through case-by-case studies, a unified theoret ical framework capable of predicting its emergence and characteristic properties remains absent. In this work, we take a firm step forward by establishing a model-independent framework for the ana lytic determination of scale-free localization lengths in certain regimes. Our key insight is to treat generalized boundary conditions as a perturbation of the periodic boundary conditions, thereby circumventing the singular response-to-perturbation that would otherwise arise if they were pertur batively treated relative to open boundary conditions. Our work sheds new light on understanding SFSE in non-Hermitian systems.

quant-pharXiv:2604.01638•Apr 3, 2026
In all known schemes for the non-Hermitian skin effect, the non-Hermitian ingredient that drives the skin localization, whether asymmetric hopping or gain and loss, is invariably introduced by hand as an independent model parameter along the skin direction. Here we show that when two spatial coordinates do not commute, the skin effect can break free of this paradigm: a gain-loss potential applied along one coordinate automatically generates non-reciprocity along the other through the coordinate noncommutativity, driving all eigenstates to pile up exponentially at a boundary. We term this phenomenon the noncommutative skin effect. The inverse skin length is proportional to the noncommutativity parameter and is given by an analytic formula, exact in the thermodynamic limit and verified by exact diagonalization of lattice models; the reflection symmetry of the imaginary potential furnishes an exact criterion for the presence or absence of the effect, valid rigorously for finite-size systems. For a sinusoidal imaginary potential, the skin direction of all eigenstates flips collectively at parameter points fixed purely by geometry. Because the flip point is independent of the potential strength, the reversal constitutes a zero-crossing measurement scheme intrinsically robust against systematic errors, from which the noncommutativity parameter can be extracted directly. The qualitative transition of the eigenstates from uniform to exponentially localized renders the effect a nonperturbative probe of spatial noncommutativity, and the Peierls-phase structure of its lattice model is in principle accessible to cold-atom synthetic dimensions, photonic resonators, and topolectrical circuits.
In this paper, we investigate the non-Hermitian skin effect in a semi-infinite Fock-state lattice, where the inherent coupling scales as \sqrt{n}. By analytically solving a non-uniform, non-reciprocal SSH model, we demonstrate that the intrinsic inhomogeneous coupling, in combination with nonreciprocity, fundamentally modifies the conventional skin effect. Instead of accumulating at the physical boundary, all eigenmodes become compressed and skewed within a finite spatial range determined by the inhomogeneous profile-a phenomenon we term the confined non-Hermitian skin effect. Consequently, the evolution of the probability distribution on the lattice starting from a single site is doubly confined: it is spatially bounded to a finite range by the inhomogeneous coupling, and further restricted to a one-sided trajectory at the edge of this range by the non-reciprocity. Moreover, a feasible experimental scheme based on a single trapped ion is also proposed. This work reveals how engineered coupling profiles in synthetic dimensions can reshape non-Hermitian properties and enable new protocols for quantum state manipulation.
Quasiperiodic lattices can host critical eigenstates, whereas nonreciprocal hopping in non-Hermitian lattices can induce non-Hermitian skin effect. In this work, we investigate localization phenomena in a Hatano--Nelson model with quasiperiodically modulated hopping amplitudes, where nonreciprocity arises from unequal modulation strengths of the right and left hoppings. Using a non-unitary gauge transformation, we map the non-Hermitian system into a Hermitian quasiperiodic system and obtain an exact analytical expression for the Lyapunov exponent in the thermodynamic limit. Under periodic boundary conditions, inverse participation ratios and finite-size scaling analysis are used to identify the quasiperiodic critical regimes. The comparison shows that parameter regimes hosting quasiperiodic critical states under periodic boundary conditions can exhibit the non-Hermitian skin effect under open boundary conditions. Furthermore, the non-Hermitian skin effect associated with quasiperiodic critical regimes is also observed in representative long-range hopping models and multiband extensions. Our results provide an analytically controlled perspective on how quasiperiodicity, modulated nonreciprocity, and boundary conditions jointly shape the non-Hermitian skin effect in critical regimes.
Abstract An extensive number of the eigenstates can become exponentially localized at one boundary of nonreciprocal non-Hermitian systems. This effect is known as the non-Hermitian skin effect and has been studied mostly in tight-binding lattices. To extend the skin effect to continues systems beyond 1D, we introduce a quadratic imaginary vector potential in the continuous two dimensional Schrödinger equation. We find that inseparable eigenfunctions for separable nonreciprocal Hamiltonians appear under infinite boundary conditions. Introducing boundaries destroy them and hence they can only be used as quasi-stationary states in practice. We show that all eigenstates can be clustered at the point where the imaginary vector potential is minimum in a confined system.
Non-Hermitian skin effect, which is a unique feature of non-Hermitian systems, exhibits the formation of an extensive number of boundary modes under open boundary conditions. However, its manifestation in higher dimensions remains elusive. In our work, we demonstrate a hybrid skin-topological effect arising from the interplay between first-order band topology and non-reciprocal hopping in an engineered two-dimensional brick-wall geometry. The non-Hermitian brick-wall lattice under open boundary conditions in both directions exhibits several unconventional spectral features. Notably, the eigenvalues associated with the corner skin modes do not exhibit non-trivial windings in the complex energy plane; instead, they exhibit dynamically stable exceptional point-like features that do not originate from eigenvector coalescence. In contrast, the remaining modes accumulate at the opposite pair. Of all the corner skin modes, only the two that originate from the topological corner states of the Hermitian brick-wall lattice remain localized at individual corners, while the rest accumulate at the pair of opposite corners. This spatial distribution contrasts sharply with the second-order skin effect, where corner skin modes are more uniformly distributed. Finally, for the non-Hermitian Brick-wall lattice, we design and implement the corresponding topolectrical circuit (circuit for a square lattice is included for comparison) to directly visualize the hybrid skin-topological modes.
We study the one-dimensional non-Hermitian lattices with linearly varying nonreciprocal hopping, where the non-Hermitian skin effect (NHSE) is found to be dissolved gradually as the strength of nonreciprocity increases. The energy spectrum under the open boundary condition is composed of real and imaginary eigenenergies when the nonreciprocal hopping is weak. Interestingly, the real eigenenergies form an equally spaced ladder, and the corresponding eigenstates are localized at the boundary with a Gaussian distribution due to NHSE. By increasing the nonreciprocity, the number of real eigenenergies will decrease while more and more eigenenergies become imaginary. Accompanied by the real-imaginary transition in the spectrum, the eigenstates are shifted from the boundary into the bulk of the lattice. When the nonreciprocity gets strong enough, the whole spectrum will be imaginary and the NHSE disappears completely in the system; i.e., all the eigenstates become Gaussian bound states localized inside the bulk. Our work unveils the exotic properties of non-Hermitian systems with spatially varying nonreciprocal hopping.
Non-Hermitian skin effect is one of the most captivating phenomena in non-Hermitian systems, characterized by the extensive localization of eigenstates near open boundaries. In its conventional form, the localization length of a skin mode is independent of the system size. Remarkably, however, when the open boundaries are coupled to realize a generalized boundary condition, the localization length can undergo a drastic transformation, becoming proportional to the system length. This intriguing regime is known as the scale-free skin effect (SFSE). Although SFSE has been observed in numerous one-dimensional non-Hermitian models through case-by-case studies, a unified theoret ical framework capable of predicting its emergence and characteristic properties remains absent. In this work, we take a firm step forward by establishing a model-independent framework for the ana lytic determination of scale-free localization lengths in certain regimes. Our key insight is to treat generalized boundary conditions as a perturbation of the periodic boundary conditions, thereby circumventing the singular response-to-perturbation that would otherwise arise if they were pertur batively treated relative to open boundary conditions. Our work sheds new light on understanding SFSE in non-Hermitian systems.