Topological zero modes and edge symmetries of metastable Markovian bosonic systems

Abstract: Tight bosonic analogs of free-fermionic symmetry-protected topological phases, and their associated edge-localized excitations, have long evaded the grasp of condensed-matter and AMO physics. In this work, building on our initial exploration [PRL 127, 245701 (2021)], we identify a broad class of quadratic bosonic systems subject to Markovian dissipation that realize tight bosonic analogs of the Majorana and Dirac edge modes characteristic of topological superconductors and insulators, respectively. To this end, we establish a general framework for topological metastability for these systems, by leveraging pseudospectral theory as the appropriate mathematical tool for capturing the non-normality of the Lindbladian generator. The resulting dynamical paradigm, which is characterized by both a sharp separation between transient and asymptotic dynamics and a nontrivial topological invariant, is shown to host edge-localized modes, which we dub Majorana and Dirac bosons. Generically, these consist of one conserved mode and a canonically conjugate generator of an approximate symmetry of the dynamics. The general theory is exemplified through several models exhibiting a range of exotic boundary physics that topologically metastable systems can engender. In particular, we explore the extent to which Noether's theorem is violated in this dissipative setting and the interplay between symmetries and these edge modes. We also demonstrate the possibility of anomalous parity dynamics for a bosonic cat state prepared in a topologically metastable system. Observable multitime signatures in the form of anomalously long-lived quantum correlations and divergent zero-frequency power spectral peaks are proposed and discussed in detail. Our results point to a new paradigm of genuine symmetry-protected topological physics in free bosons, embedded deeply in the long-lived transient regimes of metastable dynamics.