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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2026
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.12760 |
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| _version_ | 1866910032390520832 |
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| author | Yang, Xiaosen Feng, Yaru Wahab, Abdul Geng, Hao |
| author_facet | Yang, Xiaosen Feng, Yaru Wahab, Abdul Geng, Hao |
| contents | Non-Hermitian photonics provides a fertile platform for exploring phenomena with no Hermitian counterparts, including the non-Hermitian skin effect and exceptional points, with direct relevance for integrated photonic technologies. In this work, we investigate the properties of non-Hermitian second-order topological phases by constructing a photonic kagome crystal with balanced gain and loss, and reveal the interplay between higher-order topology and the non-Hermitian skin effect. We demonstrate that non-Hermiticity not only lifts the degeneracy of the topological corner modes but also drives bulk states to accumulate at corners, giving rise to bipolar non-Hermitian skin effect. By defining the point-gap topology, we uncover the fundamental topological origin of the non-Hermitian skin effect. More interestingly, the non-Hermitian skin effect induces a fundamental breakdown of the conventional bulk-boundary correspondence based on the Bloch band theory. Our findings establish a general framework for non-Hermitian higher-order photonic systems and open avenues toward tailorable topological photonic devices exploiting non-Hermitian enhanced localization. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_12760 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Non-Hermitian Second-Order Topological Phases and Bipolar Skin Effect in Photonic Kagome Crystals Yang, Xiaosen Feng, Yaru Wahab, Abdul Geng, Hao Optics Non-Hermitian photonics provides a fertile platform for exploring phenomena with no Hermitian counterparts, including the non-Hermitian skin effect and exceptional points, with direct relevance for integrated photonic technologies. In this work, we investigate the properties of non-Hermitian second-order topological phases by constructing a photonic kagome crystal with balanced gain and loss, and reveal the interplay between higher-order topology and the non-Hermitian skin effect. We demonstrate that non-Hermiticity not only lifts the degeneracy of the topological corner modes but also drives bulk states to accumulate at corners, giving rise to bipolar non-Hermitian skin effect. By defining the point-gap topology, we uncover the fundamental topological origin of the non-Hermitian skin effect. More interestingly, the non-Hermitian skin effect induces a fundamental breakdown of the conventional bulk-boundary correspondence based on the Bloch band theory. Our findings establish a general framework for non-Hermitian higher-order photonic systems and open avenues toward tailorable topological photonic devices exploiting non-Hermitian enhanced localization. |
| title | Non-Hermitian Second-Order Topological Phases and Bipolar Skin Effect in Photonic Kagome Crystals |
| topic | Optics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.12760 |