Clifford and Quadratic Composite Operators with Applications to non-Hermitian Physics.

Advisors: Dr. Terry A. Loring, Dr. Alexander Cerjan

A variety of physical phenomena, such as amplification, absorption, and radiation, can be effectively described using non-Hermitian operators. However, the introduction of non-uniform non-Hermiticity can lead to the formation of exceptional points in a system’s spectrum, where two or more eigenvalues become degenerate and their associated eigenvectors coallesce causing the underlying operator or matrix to become defective. Here, we explore extensions of the Clifford and quadratic \(\epsilon\)-pseudospectrum, previously defined for Hermitian operators, to accommodate non-Hermitian operators and matrices, including the possibility that the underlying operators may possess exceptional points in their spectra. In particular, we provide a framework for finding approximate joint eigenstates of a \(d\)-tuple of Hermitian operators \(A\) and non-Hermitian operators \(B\), and show that their Clifford and quadratic \(\epsilon\)-pseudospectra are still well-defined despite any non-normality. We prove that the non-Hermitian quadratic gap is local with respect to the probe location when there are perturbations to one or more of the underlying operators. Altogether, this framework enables the exploration of non-Hermitian physical systems’ ϵ-pseudospectra, including but not limited to photonic systems where gain, loss, and radiation are prominent physical phenomena.