Defining a bulk-edge correspondence for non-Hermitian Hamiltonians via singular-value decomposition

Abstract

We address the breakdown of the bulk-boundary correspondence observed in non-Hermitian systems, where open and periodic systems can have distinct phase diagrams. The correspondence can be completely restored by considering the Hamiltonian's singular-value decomposition instead of its eigendecomposition. This leads to a natural topological description in terms of a flattened singular decomposition. This description is equivalent to the usual approach for Hermitian systems and coincides with a recent proposal for the classification of non-Hermitian systems. We generalize the notion of the entanglement spectrum to non-Hermitian systems, and show that the edge physics is indeed completely captured by the periodic bulk Hamiltonian. We exemplify our approach by considering the chiral non-Hermitian Su-Schrieffer-Heger and Chern insulator models. Our work advocates a different perspective on topological non-Hermitian Hamiltonians, paving the way to a better understanding of their entanglement structure.