Algebraic non-Hermitian skin effect and unified non-Bloch band theory in arbitrary dimensions

Abstract: The non-Hermitian skin effect, characterized by a proliferation of exponentially-localized edge modes, has led to numerous novel physical phenomena that challenge the limits of conventional band theory. In sharp contrast to the traditional exponential localization, this manuscript reports a new kind of non-Hermitian skin effect, which we term the ``algebraic non-Hermitian skin effect." This effect emerges across a diverse spectrum of non-Hermitian systems in both two- and higher space dimensions. For 2D systems with algebraic non-Hermitian skin effect, on geometries such as a torus or cylinder, these systems exhibit behavior reminiscent of the conventional non-Hermitian skin effect, where eigenmodes are either bulk Bloch waves (on a torus) or exponentially localized edge modes (on a cylinder). However, if the same system is placed on a disk or any geometrical shape featuring open boundaries in all directions, the skin modes immediately transform into the algebraic form, with amplitude decaying as a power-law function of the distance from the boundary. To explore these novel effects, we formulate a unified generalized Brillouin zone (GBZ) framework that is universally applicable to all variations of non-Hermitian skin effects across any spatial dimension, developed through the usage of a generalized transfer-matrix approach. We find that in a $d$-dimensional non-Hermitian system, in general, the GBZ manifold's dimensionality must fall into the range from $d$ to $2d-1$, denoted by ${d \leq \dim\text{GBZ} \leq 2d-1}$. In 1D, this inequality is trivial because the upper and lower bounds converge, forcing the GBZ's dimensionality to match with that of the physical space. However, in 2D and above, this inequality indicates that there is no obligation for the GBZ's dimensionality to concur with the physical space's dimensionality, which gives rise to a new class of non-Hermitian skin effects.