In the realm of energy research, a trio of scientists from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Timofey T. Sergeev, Evgeny S. Andrianov, and Alexander A. Zyablovsky, have made a significant discovery that could potentially impact the understanding and manipulation of energy systems. Their work, published in the journal Physical Review Letters, challenges a long-held assumption about the behavior of certain energy systems.
Exceptional points are unique singularities that occur in the spectrum of non-Hermitian systems, which are systems where energy is not conserved. At these points, several eigenvectors become linearly dependent, and their eigenvalues become equal. Traditionally, it was believed that the order of these exceptional points was limited by the number of degrees of freedom in the system. However, the researchers have shown that this is not necessarily the case.
The team demonstrated that non-Markovian effects, which are memory effects in the system’s dynamics, can lead to the emergence of exceptional points of higher orders than the number of degrees of freedom in the system. This occurs when energy returns from the reservoir to the system, causing the system’s dynamics to be divided into intervals described by the product of an exponential and a polynomial function of ever-increasing order.
One of the most practical implications of this research is the ability to observe exceptional points of arbitrary high orders by simply choosing the observation time. This could potentially allow for more precise control and manipulation of energy systems, leading to more efficient energy transfer and storage.
The researchers’ findings could have significant implications for the energy industry, particularly in the development of more efficient energy systems. By understanding and manipulating these exceptional points, it may be possible to improve the performance of a wide range of energy technologies, from solar cells to batteries. However, further research will be needed to fully explore these potential applications.
This article is based on research available at arXiv.