Exceptional points and non-Hermitian skin effects under nonlinearity of eigenvalues

Abstract: Band structures of metamaterials described by a nonlinear eigenvalue problem are beyond the existing topological band theory. In this paper, we analyze non-Hermitian topology under the nonlinearity of eigenvalues. Specifically, we elucidate that such nonlinear systems may exhibit exceptional points and non-Hermitian skin effects which are unique non-Hermitian topological phenomena. The robustness of these non-Hermitian phenomena is clarified by introducing the topological invariants under nonlinearity which reproduce the existing ones in linear systems. Furthermore, our analysis elucidates that exceptional points may emerge even for systems without an internal degree of freedom where the equation is single component. These nonlinearity-induced exceptional points are observed in mechanical metamaterials, e.g., the Kapitza pendulum.