Restoration of non-Hermitian bulk-boundary correspondence by counterbalancing skin effect

The non-Hermitian skin effect (NHSE) undermines the conventional bulk-boundary correspondence (BBC) since it results in a distinct bulk spectrum in open-boundary systems compared to the periodic counterpart. Using the non-Hermitian (NH) Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) model as an example, we propose an intuitive approach, termed “doubling and swapping" method, to restore the BBC. Explicitly, we construct a modified system by swapping the asymmetric intracell hoppings in every second primitive unit cell, such that it has double-sized unit cells compared to the NH SSH model and is free of NHSE. Importantly, the modified system and the NH SSH chain exhibit identical spectra under open boundary conditions (OBC). As a result, the modified system can serve as the valid bulk for defining topological invariants that correctly predicts edge states and topological phase transitions. The basic principle is applicable to many other systems such as the non-Hermitian Creutz ladder model. Furthermore, we extend the study to disordered systems in which the asymmetric hoppings are randomly swapped. We show that two types of winding numbers can be defined to account for the NHSE and topological edge states, respectively.