Exceptional Topology on Nonorientable Manifolds

Abstract: We classify gapped and gapless phases of non-Hermitian band structures on two-dimensional nonorientable parameter spaces. Such spaces arise in a wide range of physical systems in the presence of non-symmorphic parameter space symmetries. For gapped phases, we find that nonorientable spaces provide a natural setting for exploring fundamental structural problems in braid group theory, such as torsion and conjugacy. Gapless phases, which host exceptional points (EPs), explicitly violate the fermion doubling theorem, even in two-band models. We demonstrate that EPs traversing the nonorientable parameter space exhibit non-Abelian charge inversion. These braided phases and their transitions leave distinct signatures in the form of bulk Fermi arc degeneracies, offering a concrete route toward experimental realization and verification.