Topological quantum criticality in non-Hermitian extended Kitaev chain

Abstract

An attempt is made to study the quantum criticality in non-Hermitian system with topological characterization. We use the zero mode solutions to characterize the topological phases and, criticality and also to construct the phase diagram. The Hermitian counterpart of the model Hamiltonian possess quite a few interesting features such as Majorana zero modes (MZMs) at criticality, unique topological phase transition on the critical line and hence these unique features are of an interest to study in the non-Hermitian case also. We observe a unique behavior of critical lines in presence of non-Hermiticity. We study the topological phase transitions in the non-Hermitian case using parametric curves which also reveal the gap closing point through exceptional points. We study bulk and edge properties of the system where at the edge, the stability dependence behavior of MZMs at criticality is studied and at the bulk we study the effect of non-Hermiticity on the topological phases by investigating the behavior of the critical lines. The study of non-Hermiticity on the critical lines revels the rate of receding of the topological phases with respect to the increase in the value of non-Hermiticity. This work gives a new perspective on topological quantum criticality in non-Hermitian quantum system.