• Accepted Paper

Why finite-size non-Hermitian eigenvalues can miss asymptotic eigenstates in topological physics

Lucien Jezequel, Loïc Herviou, and Jens H. Bardarson

Phys. Rev. B - Accepted 10 September, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/2vfv-47r1

Abstract

Non-Hermitian systems exhibit a fundamental spectral dichotomy absent in Hermitian physics: the eigenvalue spectrum and the eigenstate spectrum can deviate significantly in the thermodynamic limit. We explain how extrapolating finite-size eigenvalues can miss important asymptotic eigenstates, with the unidirectional Hatano-Nelson model serving as a minimal realization of this phenomenon. Through exact analytical solutions, we show that this model contains not only hidden asymptotic modes but also quasi-Jordan structures that become macroscopic in the thermodynamic limit and appear more generally in systems with nontrivial bulk winding. Our framework explains how the apparent failure of the bulk-edge correspondence in models such as the non-Hermitian SSH chain can reflect the failure of finite-size eigenvalue extrapolation to detect asymptotic edge states in systems with a skin effect. These results clarify the limitations of using finite-size eigenvalues alone to infer thermodynamic-limit topology.

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