Topological edge states and disorder robustness in one-dimensional off-diagonal mosaic lattices

Abstract: We investigate topological edge states in one-dimensional off-diagonal mosaic lattices, where nearest-neighbor hopping amplitudes are modulated periodically with period $\kappa>1$. Analytically, we demonstrate that discrete edge states emerge at energy levels $E=\epsilon+2t\cos(\pi i/\kappa)$ ($i=1,\cdots,\kappa-1$), extending the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model to multi-band systems. Numerical simulations reveal that these edge states exhibit robust localization and characteristic nodal structures, with their properties strongly dependent on the edge configurations of long and short bonds. We further examine their stability under off-diagonal disorder, where the hopping amplitudes $\beta$ fluctuate randomly at intervals of $\kappa$. Using the inverse participation ratio as a localization measure, we show that these topological edge states remain robust over a broad range of disorder strengths. In contrast, additional $\beta$-dependent edge states (emerging for $\kappa \ge 4$) are fragile and disappear under strong disorder. These findings highlight a rich interplay between topology, periodic modulation, and disorder, offering insights for engineering multi-gap topological phases and their realization in synthetic quantum and photonic systems.