Observation of a Topological Transition in the Bulk of a Non-Hermitian System

Abstract

We present the first experimental observation of a topological transition in a non-Hermitian system. In contrast to standard methods for examining topological properties, which involve probing edge (or surface) states, we monitor the topological transition by employing bulk dynamics only. The system is composed of a lattice of evanescently coupled optical waveguides, and non-Hermitian behavior is engineered by inducing bending loss by spatially "wiggling" every second waveguide.