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arXiv:2609.02589

Exceptional Topological Signatures of Non-Hermitian Photonic Hopf-Link Braids

Samit Kumar Gupta

physics.opticscond-mat.mes-hallquant-phSubmitted Sep 2, 2026• Announced Sep 3, 2026
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Non-Hermitian physics endows the non-Abelian systems with exceptional topology characterized by non-commutative braid patterns. Interplay of distinct competing sources of non-Hermiticity may induce novel topological effects. Here, we provide a generalized Hatano-Nelson model with higher-order nonreciprocal hoppings, non-Abelian gauge fields, and staggered gain-loss processes showing the exceptional topological structure of the Hopf-link braids that undergoes a EP-mediated topological phase transition. We demonstrate that mixing multiple nonreciprocal channels drives the system into highly intricate, nested complex energy Hopf-link braids and expands the topological landscape up to higher-order braiding sectors. Furthermore, utilizing biorthogonal eigenvector tracking, we map the structural evolution of the exceptional phase boundaries via the maximum Petermann factor in the phase angle parameter planes. We show that the gain-loss non-Hermiticity drives a topological crossover where the extended exceptional contours constrict into isolated regimes. The demonstration of EP-mediated topological phase transition of Hopf-link braids and the associated rich exceptional phase portraits may offer new physical insights with promising applications in robust, fault-tolerant communication channels and quantum computing platforms.

Comments
7 Pages, 3 Figures

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Non-Hermitian physics endows the non-Abelian systems with exceptional topology characterized by non-commutative braid patterns. Interplay of distinct competing sources of non-Hermiticity may induce novel topological effects. Here, we provide a generalized Hatano-Nelson model with higher-order nonreciprocal hoppings, non-Abelian gauge fields, and staggered gain-loss processes showing the exceptional topological structure of the Hopf-link braids that undergoes a EP-mediated topological phase transition. We demonstrate that mixing multiple nonreciprocal channels drives the system into highly intricate, nested complex energy Hopf-link braids and expands the topological landscape up to higher-order braiding sectors. Furthermore, utilizing biorthogonal eigenvector tracking, we map the structural evolution of the exceptional phase boundaries via the maximum Petermann factor in the phase angle parameter planes. We show that the gain-loss non-Hermiticity drives a topological crossover where the extended exceptional contours constrict into isolated regimes. The demonstration of EP-mediated topological phase transition of Hopf-link braids and the associated rich exceptional phase portraits may offer new physical insights with promising applications in robust, fault-tolerant communication channels and quantum computing platforms.
We investigate quantum correlations and entanglement in a non-Hermitian quantum system modeled by a 2D stacked Su–Schrieffer–Heeger (SSH) lattice incorporating nonreciprocal hopping amplitudes and balanced on-site gain and loss. Focusing on the interplay between non-Hermiticity, topology, and open-boundary conditions, we analyze how these factors shape bipartite entanglement properties, characterized through the entanglement spectrum and entanglement negativity ( E N ). By examining the complex energy spectrum under open boundary conditions, we identify critical points associated with the closing of complex energy gaps, which significantly influence entanglement structure and signal topological phase transitions. Our findings reveal that boundary-localized non-Bloch modes and nonreciprocal couplings can induce highly tunable and unconventional entanglement features, absent under periodic boundary conditions. These results highlight the breakdown of conventional bulk-boundary correspondence and underscore the utility of entanglement measures in diagnosing non-Hermitian topological phases. Beyond advancing the fundamental understanding of quantum correlations in open systems, our study suggests potential pathways to engineer quantum devices and topological materials where gain, loss, and nonreciprocity are intrinsic elements.
Non-Hermitian systems generally host complex spectra that bring unique spectral topologies, leading to the spectral braiding and non-Hermitian skin effect. The experimental exploration of non-Hermitian physics is mainly concentrated in artificial systems due to the flexibility in the introduction of the non-Hermiticity, but to date has focused only on the systems without gauge fields or with Abelian gauge fields. Here, we propose a non-Abelian Hatano-Nelson model with a nonreciprocal U(2) gauge field. The gauge field induces two non-Hermitian phenomena: the first is the Hopf-link-shaped complex energy braiding, and the second is the bipolar skin effect arising under the non-Abelian condition. The non-Abelian Hatano-Nelson model is implemented in electric circuits, and the Hopf-link-shaped admittance spectra and bipolar skin admittance modes are observed. Our work enriches the experimental non-Hermitian physics, and provides an approach to designing multifunctional non-Hermitian devices.
Non-Hermitian systems exhibit a variety of unique features rooted in the presence of exceptional points (EPs). The distinct topological structure in the proximity of an EP gives rise to counterintuitive behaviors absent in Hermitian systems, which emerge after encircling the EP either quasistatically or dynamically. However, experimental exploration of EP encirclement in quantum systems, particularly those involving high-order EPs, remains challenging due to the difficulty of coherently controlling more degrees of freedom. In this work, we experimentally investigate the eigenvalue braiding and state transfer arising from the encirclement of EP in a three-dimensional non-Hermitian quantum system using superconducting circuits. We characterize the second- and third-order EPs through the coalescence of eigenvalues. Then we reveal the topological structure near the EP3 by quasistatically encircling it along various paths with three independent parameters, which yields the eigenvalue braiding described by the braid group B 3 . Additionally, we observe chiral state transfer between three eigenstates under a fast driving scheme when no EPs are enclosed, while time-symmetric behavior occurs when at least one EP is encircled. Our findings offer insights into understanding non-Hermitian topological structures and the manipulation of quantum states through dynamic operations.
Non-Hermitian topological phases are typically engineered through gain and loss, nonreciprocity, or interaction with an environment. Here we show that they can instead emerge purely by projecting a fully Hermitian, topologically trivial parent lattice onto an embedded subsystem. The mechanism is general: when a zero mode of the eliminated degrees of freedom couples to the retained subsystem, the embedding self-energy develops a pole, the zero-frequency description becomes singular, and topology is carried by the finite-frequency projected Green's function. We realize the mechanism exactly in a trivial nearest-neighbor square lattice with an embedded one-dimensional zig-zag brane. In the periodic transverse geometry, the parity of the eliminated complement selects the outcome: even sectors reduce to a regular Schur complement and yield conventional SSH-type descendants, whereas odd sectors host a sublattice-imbalance zero mode and follow the resonant route. There, the complex bands braid through isolated finite-frequency exceptional points (EPs), while a parity symmetry inherited from the embedding, together with TRS†\mathrm{TRS}^{\dagger}TRS†, induces conjugated pseudo-Hermiticity and quantizes the complex Berry phase. The stable bulk invariant of the nondegenerate phases is this quantized complex Berry phase; adjacent sectors are separated by parity-paired exceptional points whose half-integer vorticities encode the local exchange of complex-energy strands.The absence of the non-Hermitian skin effect ensures that the invariant is defined directly on the ordinary Brillouin zone. A topolectrical implementation of the projected response predicts momentum-resolved transmission minima at the exceptional-point transition frequencies together with a characteristic low-frequency resonant admittance, providing an experimentally testable signature of the mechanism.
Non-Hermitian physics has unlocked a wealth of unconventional wave phenomena beyond the reach of Hermitian systems, with exceptional points (EPs) driving enhanced sensitivity, nonreciprocal transport, and topological behavior unique to non-Hermitian degeneracies. Here, we present a scalable and reconfigurable silicon photonic integrated circuit capable of emulating arbitrary non-Hermitian time evolution with high precision. Using this programmable platform, we implement a two-band non-Hermitian Hamiltonian defined on a Klein-bottle topology a nonorientable parameter space that enables exceptional phases forbidden on orientable manifolds. Through an on-chip amplitude-and-phase reconstruction protocol, we retrieve the full complex Hamiltonian at multiple points in parameter space and experimentally map the associated Fermi arc where the imaginary eigenvalue gap closes. The orientation of the measured Fermi arc reveals a nontrivial exceptional topology: it implies the presence of same-charge EPs (or an EP monopole) that cannot annihilate locally on the Klein bottle. Our results demonstrate the first photonic realization of exceptional topology on a nonorientable manifold and establish a versatile platform for exploring exotic non-Hermitian and topological models relevant to classical and quantum photonics.
Chirality is more than a geometric curiosity; it governs measurable asymmetries across nature, from enantiomer-selective drugs and left-handed fermions in particle physics to handed charge transport in Weyl semimetals. We extend this universal concept to non-Hermitian systems by defining topological chirality, an invariant that emerges whenever an exceptional-points (EP) pair is present. Built from the non-commutative fundamental group and its braid representation, topological chirality acts as a singularity selector: clockwise EP loops occupy a homotopy class that avoids EPs, whereas counter-clockwise mirrors are equivalent only if they cross the EPs themselves. We confirm this binary rule in an optical microcavity and a non-Hermitian topological band. The same two-sheeted topology governs EP pairs in spin systems, photonic crystals and hybrid light-matter structures, where EP encirclements have already been demonstrated, so the framework transfers without alteration and confirms its experimental viability. Our findings lay the cornerstone for interpreting loop-sensitive observables such as spectral vorticity, the complex Berry phase and the non-Abelian holonomy. Finally, a gluing-of-planes construction extends the invariant to an n-sheeted surface hosting 2m EPs, unifying higher-order EP pairs.