Non-Hermitian robust edge states in one dimension: Anomalous localization and eigenspace condensation at exceptional points

Abstract

Capital to topological insulators, the bulk-boundary correspondence ties a topological invariant computed from the bulk (extended) states with those at the boundary, which are hence robust to disorder. Here we put forward a different ordering unique to non-Hermitian lattices whereby a pristine system becomes devoid of extended states, a property which turns out to be robust to disorder. This is enabled by a peculiar type of non-Hermitian degeneracy where a macroscopic fraction of the states coalesce at a single point with a geometrical multiplicity of 1.