Exceptional rings and non-Abelian topology in non-Hermitian high-spin systems

doi:10.1088/1674-1056/addcbe

Abstract Topological phases featuring non-Abelian charges have garnered significant attention in recent years. In parallel, the study of multiband exceptional topology in non-Hermitian systems has emerged as a prominent research direction. In this study, we investigate a parity-time (PT) symmetric Hamiltonian, which hosts both conventional non-Abelian topological phases (NATPs) and hybrid phases. We propose an experimental scheme using spin-1 atoms with spin-orbit coupling trapped in two-dimensional (2D) lattices. Before adding a non-Hermitian term, we find the emergence of distinct topological phases mixed by two NATPs and establish their connection with NATPs theory. When a non-Hermitian term that preserves PT symmetry protection was introduced, stable second-order exceptional rings and third-order exceptional points emerge and they drive the edge states to manifest as discontinuous Fermi arcs in the surface Brillouin zone. However, with the variation of the non-Hermitian term, it is rather intriguing that two types of exceptional rings here transition from being internally tangent to externally tangent, transforming into a new topological phase equivalent to the Hermitian case. This research provides deeper insights into the nature of NATPs and the topological implications of exceptional structures, contributing to the field of topological physics.

Keywords: non-Abelian topology parity-time symmetry exceptional point ultracold atoms

Received: 19 March 2025
Revised: 21 May 2025
Accepted manuscript online: 23 May 2025

PACS:	03.65.Vf	(Phases: geometric; dynamic or topological)
	11.30.Er	(Charge conjugation, parity, time reversal, and other discrete symmetries)
	42.50.-p	(Quantum optics)
	67.85.-d	(Ultracold gases, trapped gases)

Fund: Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 12274473 and 12135018).

Corresponding Authors: Yuan-Gang Deng
E-mail: dengyg3@mail.sysu.edu.cn

Cite this article:

Peng-Zhen Sun(孙鹏震), Zhou-Tao Lei(雷周涛), and Yuan-Gang Deng(邓元刚) Exceptional rings and non-Abelian topology in non-Hermitian high-spin systems 2025 Chin. Phys. B 34 110303

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Exceptional rings and non-Abelian topology in non-Hermitian high-spin systems

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