Distinct outcomes by dynamically encircling an exceptional point along homotopic loops

Xu-Lin Zhang, Jun-Feng Song, C. T. Chan, and Hong-Bo Sun
Phys. Rev. A 99, 063831 – Published 21 June 2019

Abstract

We study a two-state non-Hermitian waveguide system that carries an exceptional point (EP). It is commonly believed that dynamically encircling an EP exhibits a chiral behavior when the starting point of the loop lies in the branch cut with eigenmodes being symmetric and antisymmetric modes. We show here that such statement is conditional; i.e., the dynamics can in fact be nonchiral for specially designed loops with the starting point in the branch cut. In particular, we find that for two homotopic loops (i.e., loops that can be transformed continuously from one to another without crossing any EP), the outcomes can be completely different even if the two loops share the same starting state, enclose the same EP, and encircle the EP in the same direction. Our findings greatly enrich the understanding of the physics in dynamical processes of EP encircling in non-Hermitian systems.

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  • Received 11 March 2019

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.99.063831

©2019 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

  1. Physical Systems
Atomic, Molecular & Optical

Authors & Affiliations

Xu-Lin Zhang1, Jun-Feng Song1, C. T. Chan2, and Hong-Bo Sun1,3,*

  • 1State Key Laboratory of Integrated Optoelectronics, College of Electronic Science and Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, China
  • 2Department of Physics, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong, China
  • 3State Key Laboratory of Precision Measurement Technology and Instruments, Department of Precision Instrument, Tsinghua University, Haidian, Beijing 100084, China

  • *hbsun@tsinghua.edu.cn

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Issue

Vol. 99, Iss. 6 — June 2019

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