Phase Diagram of a Non-Hermitian Chern Insulator: Destabilization of Chiral Edge States and Bulk-Boundary Correspondence

TL;DR

This paper investigates a non-Hermitian Chern insulator, revealing how non-Hermiticity causes gap closing and destabilizes chiral edge states, leading to a revised bulk-boundary correspondence that aligns with the system's phase diagram.

Contribution

The study revises the bulk-boundary correspondence for non-Hermitian Chern insulators by incorporating the effects of peculiar gap closing and edge state destabilization.

Findings

Destabilization of chiral edge states during phase transition.

Revised bulk-boundary correspondence consistent with spectra.

Phase diagram matches the bulk-boundary analysis.

Abstract

A non-Hermitian Chern insulator with gain/loss-type non-Hermiticity shows a peculiar gap closing; when a nontrivial Chern insulator phase changes to a gapless phase, conduction and valence bands are combined into one band owing to destabilization of chiral edge states. A previous recipe of non-Hermitian bulk-boundary correspondence is insufficient for this system since such a gap closing is beyond its scope. Here, we revise the recipe by taking the peculiar gap closing into account and apply it to the non-Hermitian Chern insulator. We demonstrate that the bulk-boundary correspondence holds in the system including a destabilization of chiral edge states. A phase diagram derived from the bulk-boundary correspondence is shown to be consistent with spectra of the system.