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  • Open Access

Non-Hermitian Numerical Renormalization Group: Solution of the Non-Hermitian Kondo Model

Phillip C. Burke and Andrew K. Mitchell

  • School of Physics, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland and Centre for Quantum Engineering, Science, and Technology, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 206502 – Published 12 November, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/19td-1k9s

Abstract

Non-Hermitian (NH) Hamiltonians describe open quantum systems, nonequilibrium dynamics, and dissipative processes. Although a rich range of single-particle NH physics has been uncovered, many-body phenomena in strongly correlated NH systems have been far less well studied. The Kondo effect, an important paradigm for strong correlation physics, has recently been considered in the NH setting. Here, we develop an NH generalization of the numerical renormalization group and use it to solve the NH Kondo model. Our nonperturbative solution applies beyond weak coupling, and we uncover a nontrivial phase diagram. The method is showcased by application to the NH pseudogap Kondo model, which we show supports a completely novel phase with a genuine NH stable fixed point and complex eigenspectrum. Our NH numerical renormalization group code, which can be used in regimes and for models inaccessible to, e.g., perturbative scaling and Bethe ansatz, is provided open source.

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 206502– Published 12 November, 2025
  • Received 16 April 2025
  • Revised 17 June 2025
  • Accepted 17 October 2025
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