We investigate the dynamical lattice behavior of ultracold bosonic atoms loaded into an optical lattice with two-body dissipation. In the Mott insulating limit, the resulting system can emulate a variety of spin-1/2 non-Hermitian Heisenberg models such as the non-Hermitian Ising, XX, and XXZ models. These different spin models are implemented by tuning the parameter spaces of the hopping amplitude, the loss rates of atoms, and on-site interaction of strength. Moreover, utilizing the improved non-Hermitian density-matrix renormalization group (NH-DMRG) algorithm, we present the correlation functions, Bell nonlocality
(B), and quantum Fisher information (QFI) of the non-Hermitian spin systems, where the QFI inversion and order-of-magnitude reduction demonstrate a high sensitivity to the non-Hermitian system parameters. In addition, there exists a parameter space where non-Hermitian and Hermitian systems exhibit the same phase transition behavior as indicated by QFI and
B. Our results open a new avenue toward the quantum simulation and observation of non-Hermitian many-body systems.
High-order exceptional points (EPs) emerging in non-Hermitian systems have attracted broad interest for their significantly enhanced sensitivity to perturbations. However, quantum sensing schemes based on high-order EPs remain scarce, due to the experimental challenge of fine-tuning the system to such an extremely sensitive isolated point. Here we propose a four-channel dissipative coupling model that supports both fourth-order exceptional surfaces and second-order exceptional volumes. This non-Hermitian model can be realized in a thermal atomic system, and its complex energy spectra can be determined via electromagnetically induced transparency spectroscopy. The proposed model exhibits a characteristic fourth-order response to multiple physical quantities such as the laser detuning and the distance between optical channels, significantly surpassing the response of second-order EPs. We further reveal the sensitivity-robustness trade-off under experimental noise. Our work opens a route toward high-performance sensing leveraging higher-order EPs.
Abstract High-order exceptional points (EPs) emerging in non-Hermitian systems have attracted broad interest for their significantly enhanced sensitivity to perturbations. However, quantum sensing schemes based on high-order EPs remain scarce, due to the experimental challenge of fine-tuning the system to such an extremely sensitive isolated point. Here we propose a four-channel dissipative coupling model that supports both fourth-order exceptional surfaces and second-order exceptional volumes. This non-Hermitian model can be realized in a thermal atomic system, and its complex energy spectra can be determined via electromagnetically induced transparency spectroscopy. The proposed model exhibits a characteristic fourth-order response to multiple physical quantities such as the laser detuning and the distance between optical channels, significantly surpassing the response of second-order EPs. We further reveal the sensitivity-robustness trade-off under experimental noise. Our work opens a route toward high-performance sensing leveraging higher-order EPs.