A note on topological insulator phase in non-hermitian quantum systems
Abstract
Examples of non-hermitian quantum systems admitting topological insulator phase are presented in one, two and three space dimensions. All of these non-hermitian Hamiltonians have entirely real bulk eigenvalues and unitarity is maintained with the introduction of appropriate inner-products in the corresponding Hilbert spaces. The topological invariant characterizing a particular phase is shown to be identical for a non-hermitian Hamiltonian and its hermitian counterpart, to which it is related through a non-unitary similarity transformation. A classification scheme for topological insulator phases in pseudo-hermitian quantum systems is suggested.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1109.1697,
title = {A note on topological insulator phase in non-hermitian quantum systems},
author = {Pijush K. Ghosh},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1109.1697},
year = {2012}
}
Comments
Latex, 12 pages, no figure; Added discussions, Version to appear in Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter