Defective edge states and anomalous bulk-boundary correspondence for topological insulators under non-Hermitian similarity transformation

Abstract

It was known that for non-Hermitian topological systems due to the non-Hermitian skin effect, the bulk-edge correspondence is broken down. In this paper, by using one-dimensional Su–Schrieffer–Heeger model and two-dimensional (deformed) Qi–Wu–Zhang model as examples, the focus is on a special type of non-Hermitian topological system without non-Hermitian skin effect — topological systems under non-Hermitian similarity transformation. In these non-Hermitian systems, the defective edge states and the breakdown of bulk-edge correspondence are discovered. To characterize the topological properties, a new type of inversion symmetry-protected topological invariant — total [Formula: see text] topological invariant — has been introduced. In topological phases, defective edge states appear. With the help of the effective edge Hamiltonian, it was found that the defective edge states are protected by (generalized) chiral symmetry and thus the (singular) defective edge states are unstable against the perturbation breaking the chiral symmetry. In addition, the results are generalized to non-Hermitian topological insulators with inversion symmetry in higher dimensions. This work could help people to understand the defective edge states and the breakdown of bulk-edge correspondence for non-Hermitian topological systems.