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arXiv:2608.11021

Universal scaling of spatially extended zero modes in inhomogeneous SSH chains

Gilles Parez, Nicolas Crampé, Quentin Labriet, Lucia Morey, Luc Vinet

cond-mat.str-elcond-mat.stat-mechquant-phSubmitted Aug 11, 2026• Announced Aug 12, 2026• 0 citations
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Abstract

Protected zero modes are a hallmark of topological phases of matter and are exponentially localized at sharp interfaces between distinct gapped phases. We investigate how this picture changes for smooth interfaces in a broad class of inhomogeneous Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) models. Combining an exact lattice solution with an inhomogeneous Dirac description, we show that the associated Jackiw-Rebbi zero mode becomes spatially extended. For arbitrary smooth hopping profiles, its lattice extension universally scales as the square root of the system size, independently of the microscopic details of the interface. This emergent length defines a mesoscopic critical region separating two gapped phases, within which correlations decay algebraically before crossing over to exponential decay. In addition, the entanglement entropy scales as the logarithm of the emergent length near the interface, confirming the interpretation of a mesoscopic critical region. Our results establish a universal critical length governing the low-energy physics of smooth topological interfaces.

Comments
6+6 pages, 3+5 figures

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Protected zero modes are a hallmark of topological phases of matter and are exponentially localized at sharp interfaces between distinct gapped phases. We investigate how this picture changes for smooth interfaces in a broad class of inhomogeneous Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) models. Combining an exact lattice solution with an inhomogeneous Dirac description, we show that the associated Jackiw-Rebbi zero mode becomes spatially extended. For arbitrary smooth hopping profiles, its lattice extension universally scales as the square root of the system size, independently of the microscopic details of the interface. This emergent length defines a mesoscopic critical region separating two gapped phases, within which correlations decay algebraically before crossing over to exponential decay. In addition, the entanglement entropy scales as the logarithm of the emergent length near the interface, confirming the interpretation of a mesoscopic critical region. Our results establish a universal critical length governing the low-energy physics of smooth topological interfaces.
We investigate low-frequency ac transport in the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) chain with chiral disorder near the topological delocalization transition. Our key finding is that the formation of hybridized pairs of topological domain wall zero modes leads to the anomalous logarithmic scaling of the ac conductivity σ(ω)∼logω at criticality, and σ(ω)∼ω^{2|δ|}log^{2}ω away from it. Using the combination of real-space renormalization group analysis and qualitative hybridization arguments, we demonstrate that the form of the scaling of ac conductivity at criticality stems directly from the stretched-exponential [ψ(x)∼e^{-ssqrt[x]}] spatial decay of zero-mode wave functions at the critical point.
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We investigate the topological phase in a one-dimensional Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) chain in the presence of a finite concentration of non-Hermitian substitutional impurities. Our primary focus is the discovery of a deterministic mechanism to actively reconfigure the topological phase boundaries by introducing site-dependent, non-reciprocal intracell and intercell hopping amplitudes. Specifically, breaking the internal structural symmetry of the non-reciprocal impurity hoppings induces a targeted macroscopic displacement of the critical point. This mechanism allows for the controlled expansion or compression of the topological phase strictly via local defect asymmetry. We validate this boundary displacement through finite-size scaling analysis. The extracted correlation length critical exponents (ν≈1.455ν\approx 1.455ν≈1.455 and ν≈1.397ν\approx 1.397ν≈1.397 for symmetric and asymmetric configurations, respectively) confirm a disorder-induced departure from the pristine SSH universality class, with the exponent diverging at high defect densities. We also report an impurity-induced real-to-complex spectral transition geometrically characterized by the Non-Hermitian Skin Effect. Ultimately, our results establish how isolated non-Hermitian asymmetries cooperatively interact to deterministically shift macroscopic topological protection.
We investigate interacting Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) chains with two- and three-site unit cells using density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) simulations. By selecting appropriate filling fractions and sweeping across interaction strength Jz{J}_{z}Jz​ and dimerization $\ensuremath{\delta}$, we map out their phase diagrams and identify transition lines via entanglement entropy and magnetization measurements. In the two-site model, we observe the emergence of an interaction-induced antiferromagnetic intermediate phase between the topologically trivial and nontrivial regimes, as well as a critical region at negative Jz{J}_{z}Jz​ with suppressed magnetization and finite-size scaling of entanglement entropy. In contrast, the three-site model lacks an intermediate phase and exhibits asymmetric edge localization and antiferromagnetic ordering in both positive and negative Jz{J}_{z}Jz​ regimes. We further examine the response of edge states to Ising perturbations. In the two-site model, zero-energy edge modes are topologically protected and remain robust up to a finite interaction strength. However, in the three-site model, where the edge states reside at finite energy, this protection breaks down. Despite this, the edge-localized nature of these states survives in the form of polarized modes whose spatial profiles reflect the noninteracting limit.
A dimerized fermion chain, described by Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) model, is a well-known example of a one-dimensional system with a nontrivial band topology. An interplay of disorder and topological ordering in the SSH model is of great interest owing to experimental advancements in synthesized quantum simulators. In this paper, we investigate a special sort of a disorder when intercell hopping amplitudes are random. Using a definition for Z2{\mathbb{Z}}_{2}Z2​-topological invariant $\ensuremath{\nu}\ensuremath{\in}{0;1}$ in terms of a non-Hermitian part of the total Hamiltonian, we calculate $\ensuremath{\langle}\ensuremath{\nu}\ensuremath{\rangle}$ averaged by random realizations. This allows to find: (i) an analytical form of the critical surface that separates phases of distinct topological orders and (ii) finite-size fluctuations of $\ensuremath{\nu}$ for arbitrary disorder strength. Numerical simulations of the edge modes formation and gap suppression at the transition are provided for the finite-size system. In the end, we discuss a band-touching condition derived within the averaged Green's function method for a thermodynamic limit.