Topology of multiple cross-linked Su-Schrieffer-Heeger chains

In polymer science, cross-linking of polymer chains yields a substantially modified system compared with the one-dimensional (1D) constituent chains, due to the increase of dimensionality and effective seeding by defects (cross-linking sites). Inspired by this concept, we analyze topological features of a unit cell of a generalized topological mesh comprised of several 1D Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) lattices cross-linked via a single site. The coupling site functions as a defect with protected states in the trivial regime and induces edges inside the bulk with protected localized states centered around it in the topological regime. When more than two lattices are coupled by the defect, namely, a graph dimensionality larger than one, the crossed chains support two types of localized eigenstates around the defect. One type is highly controllable by modifying the cross-linking strength, enabling broad tuning of eigenenergies from being submerged in the bulk band to becoming highly isolated and protected. We show that these unique features can be explained by an equivalence of the system to an SSH chain coupled nonreciprocally to an external reservoir, yielding a unique pseudospectrum for both the bulk and localized states, with spatially symmetric eigenstates. Applying non-Hermiticity by adding gain and loss to alternating sites, relevant, for example, to a possible realization of topological coupled-laser fabric, we observe an abrupt transition of the topologically protected midgap state from antilocalized to localized near the defect. By changing the gain-loss parameters, we observe a cascaded spatial symmetry breaking of the supported states at exceptional points where parity-time symmetry is broken, for both the localized and the bulk states, exhibiting various phases.