Perspective: Interactions and Nonlinearity in Non-Hermitian Physics
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Quantum Physics arXiv:2603.13526 (quant-ph) [Submitted on 13 Mar 2026] Title:Perspective: Interactions and Nonlinearity in Non-Hermitian Physics Authors:Federico Roccati, Federico Balducci View a PDF of the paper titled Perspective: Interactions and Nonlinearity in Non-Hermitian Physics, by Federico Roccati and 1 other authors View PDF HTML (experimental) Abstract:For decades, Hermiticity was considered an immutable axiom of quantum mechanics, essential for ensuring real energies and unitary evolution. This perspective has shifted radically, driven by the realization that non-Hermitian Hamiltonians provide a powerful effective description of open quantum systems, granting access to unique phenomena such as Exceptional Points and the Non-Hermitian Skin Effect. In this Perspective, we chart the trajectory of this field, moving from its established foundations in single-particle, linear models to the emerging frontier of interacting many-body systems. We first clarify the physical origins of non-Hermitian dynamics, distinguishing between mean-field approximations, conditional "no-click" evolution, and exact Liouvillian dynamics. We then focus on the rich phenomenology arising from the interplay of non-Hermiticity and interactions. We discuss interaction-induced topological phases, the generalization of skin effects to the many-body Hilbert space, and the distinct signatures of dissipative quantum chaos and complexity. Finally, we highlight collective phenomena in nonlinear regimes, including skin solitons and dissipative phase transitions. We also comment on measurement-induced entanglement transitions and their relation to non-Hermitian spectra and topology. By synthesizing these diverse developments, we provide a roadmap for the future of non-Hermitian physics. Comments: Subjects: Quantum Physics (quant-ph); Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall) Cite as: arXiv:2603.13526 [quant-ph] (or arXiv:2603.13526v1 [quant-ph] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2603.13526 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration) Submission history From: Federico Roccati [view email] [v1] Fri, 13 Mar 2026 19:00:00 UTC (33 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View a PDF of the paper titled Perspective: Interactions and Nonlinearity in Non-Hermitian Physics, by Federico Roccati and 1 other authorsView PDFHTML (experimental)TeX Source view license Current browse context: quant-ph new | recent | 2026-03 Change to browse by: cond-mat cond-mat.mes-hall References & Citations INSPIRE HEP NASA ADSGoogle Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Loading... BibTeX formatted citation × loading... Data provided by: Bookmark Bibliographic Tools Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer Toggle Bibliographic Explorer (What is the Explorer?) Connected Papers Toggle Connected Papers (What is Connected Papers?) Litmaps Toggle Litmaps (What is Litmaps?) scite.ai Toggle scite Smart Citations (What are Smart Citations?) Code, Data, Media Code, Data and Media Associated with this Article alphaXiv Toggle alphaXiv (What is alphaXiv?) Links to Code Toggle CatalyzeX Code Finder for Papers (What is CatalyzeX?) DagsHub Toggle DagsHub (What is DagsHub?) GotitPub Toggle Gotit.pub (What is GotitPub?) Huggingface Toggle Hugging Face (What is Huggingface?) Links to Code Toggle Papers with Code (What is Papers with Code?) ScienceCast Toggle ScienceCast (What is ScienceCast?) Demos Demos Replicate Toggle Replicate (What is Replicate?) Spaces Toggle Hugging Face Spaces (What is Spaces?) Spaces Toggle TXYZ.AI (What is TXYZ.AI?) Related Papers Recommenders and Search Tools Link to Influence Flower Influence Flower (What are Influence Flowers?) Core recommender toggle CORE Recommender (What is CORE?) Author Venue Institution Topic About arXivLabs arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website. Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them. Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs. Which authors of this paper are endorsers? | Disable MathJax (What is MathJax?)