Topological phase transition in non-Hermitian quasicrystals

Abstract: The discovery of topological phases in non-Hermitian open classical and quantum systems challenges our current understanding of topological order. Non-Hermitian systems exhibit unique features with no counterparts in topological Hermitian models, such as failure of the conventional bulk-boundary correspondence and non-Hermitian skin effect. Advances in the understanding of the topological properties of non-Hermitian lattices with translational invariance have been reported in several recent studies, however little is known about non-Hermitian quasicrystals. Here we disclose topological phases in a quasicrystal with parity-time ($\mathcal{PT}$) symmetry, described by a non-Hermitian extension of the Aubry-Andr\'e-Harper model. It is shown that the metal-insulating phase transition, observed at the $\mathcal{PT}$ symmetry breaking point, is of topological nature and can be expressed in terms of a winding number. A photonic realization of a non-Hermitian quasicrystal is also suggested.