Exact mobility edges and topological phase transition in two-dimensional non-Hermitian quasicrystals

Abstract

The emergence of the mobility edge (ME) has been recognized as an important characteristic of Anderson localization. The difficulty in understanding the physics of the MEs in three-dimensional (3D) systems from a microscopic image encourages the development of models in lower-dimensional systems that have exact MEs. While most of the previous studies are concerned with one-dimensional (1D) quasiperiodic systems, the analytic results that allow for an accurate understanding of two-dimensional (2D) cases are rare. In this work, we disclose an exactly solvable 2D quasicrystal model with parity-time ( $$\cal{P}\cal{T}$$ ) symmetry displaying exact MEs. In the thermodynamic limit, we unveil that the extended-localized transition point, observed at the $$\cal{P}\cal{T}$$ symmetry breaking point, is topologically characterized by a hidden winding number defined in the dual space. The coupling waveguide platform can be used to realize the 2D non-Hermitian quasicrystal model, and the excitation dynamics can be used to detect the localization features.