Observation of non-Hermitian topology with non-unitary dynamics of solid-state spins

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the realization of non-Hermitian topological phases using solid-state spins in a diamond NV center, revealing exotic features like the skin effect and enabling direct measurement of topological invariants.

Contribution

It implements a non-Hermitian SSH model with solid-state spins, using a dilation method to achieve non-unitary dynamics and map out spin textures in momentum space.

Findings

Successful realization of non-Hermitian SSH Hamiltonian in solid-state spins

Direct measurement of topological invariants from spin textures

Observation of non-Hermitian topological features in a quantum simulator

Abstract

Non-Hermitian topological phases exhibit a number of exotic features that have no Hermitian counterparts, including the skin effect and breakdown of the conventional bulk-boundary correspondence. Here, we implement the non-Hermitian Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) Hamiltonian, which is a prototypical model for studying non-Hermitian topological phases, with a solid-state quantum simulator consisting of an electron spin and a $^{13}$C nuclear spin in a nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in a diamond. By employing a dilation method, we realize the desired non-unitary dynamics for the electron spin and map out its spin texture in the momentum space, from which the corresponding topological invariant can be obtained directly. Our result paves the way for further exploiting and understanding the intriguing properties of non-Hermitian topological phases with solid-state spins or other quantum simulation platforms.