Non-Hermitian Avalanche Effect: Non-Perturbative Effect Induced by Local Non-Hermitian Perturbation on a Z2 Topological Order

Abstract: In this paper, based on a non-Hermitian toric-code model, we surprisingly find that the degeneracy of ground states can be changed by a local non-Hermitian perturbation (even in thermodynamic limit). We call it non-Hermitian avalanche effect. As the physics consequences of the non-Hermitian avalanche effect, a correspondence between bulk quasi-particles and topologically protected degenerate ground states for Z2 topological order is borken down. In addition, the PT symmetry breaking transition of the topologically degenerate ground states subspace can be observed by fidelity susceptibility.