Topological study of a Bogoliubov-de Gennes system of pseudo spin-$1/2$ bosons with conserved magnetization in a honeycomb lattice

TL;DR

This paper investigates the topological properties of a non-Hermitian Bogoliubov-de Gennes system of pseudo spin-1/2 bosons on a honeycomb lattice, revealing conditions for stable bulk states and unstable edge modes that can amplify signals.

Contribution

It classifies the topological phases of the system within the 38-fold way for non-Hermitian systems and provides analytical descriptions of edge modes relevant across multiple disciplines.

Findings

System classified as two copies of symmetry class AIII+η- or A+η.

Stable bulk characterized by a single topological invariant, the Chern number.

Constructed analytical description for edge modes in semi-infinite planes.

Abstract

We consider a Bogolibov-de Geenes (BdG) Hamiltonian, which is a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian with pseudo-Hermiticity, for a system of (pseudo) spin-$1/2$ bosons in a honeycomb lattice under the condition that the population difference between the two spin components, i.e., magnetization, is a constant. Such a system is capable of acting as a topological amplifier, under time-reversal symmetry, with stable bulk bands but unstable edge modes which can be populated at an exponentially fast rate. We quantitatively study the topological properties of this model within the framework of the 38-fold way for non-Hermitian systems. We find, through the symmetry analysis of the Bloch Hamiltonian, that this model is classified either as two copies of symmetry class AIII+$\eta_-$ or two copies of symmetry class A+$\eta$ depending on whether the (total) system is time-reversal-symmetric, where $\eta$ is the matrix representing pseudo-Hermiticity and $\eta_-$ indicates that pseudo-Hermiticity and chiral symmetry operators anticommute. We prove, within the context of non-Hermitian physics where eigenstates obey the bi-orthonormality relation, that a stable bulk is characterized by a single topological invariant, the Chern number for the Haldane model, independent of pairing interactions. We construct a convenient analytical description for the edge modes of the Haldane model in semi-infinite planes, which is expected to be useful for models built upon copies of the Haldane model across a broad array of disciplines. We adapt the theorem in our recent work [Phys. Rev. A 104, 013305 (2021)] to pseudo-Hermitian Hamiltonians that are less restrictive than BdG Hamiltonians and apply it to highlight that the vanishing of an unconventional commutator between number-conserving and number-nonconserving parts of the Hamiltonian indicates whether a system can be made to act as a topological amplifier.