Quantized classical response from spectral winding topology

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel form of quantized response in classical systems, based on spectral winding topology in the complex spectral plane, expanding topological concepts beyond quantum linear response frameworks.

Contribution

It establishes the concept of quantized classical response linked to spectral winding numbers, independent of quantum ground states, and demonstrates its manifestation in steady-state responses of non-Hermitian systems.

Findings

Quantized response ratios exhibit plateaus at values determined by spectral winding numbers.

The response is classical, arising from properties of Green's functions, not quantum linear response.

The approach applies to steady-state responses in non-Hermitian systems.

Abstract

Topologically quantized response is one of the focal points of contemporary condensed matter physics. While it directly results in quantized response coefficients in quantum systems, there has been no notion of quantized response in classical systems thus far. This is because quantized response has always been connected to topology via linear response theory that assumes a quantum mechanical ground state. Yet, classical systems can carry arbitrarily amounts of energy in each mode, even while possessing the same number of measurable edge modes as their topological winding. In this work, we discover the totally new paradigm of quantized classical response, which is based on the spectral winding number in the complex spectral plane, rather than the winding of eigenstates in momentum space. Such quantized response is classical insofar as it applies to phenomenological non-Hermitian setting, arises from fundamental mathematical properties of the Green's function, and shows up in steady-state response, without invoking a conventional linear response theory. Specifically, the ratio of the change in one quantity depicting signal amplification to the variation in one imaginary flux-like parameter is found to display fascinating plateaus, with their quantized values given by the spectral winding numbers as the topological invariants.