Topological characterization of a non-Hermitian ladder via Floquet non-Bloch theory

In this work, we study a non-Hermitian (NH) ladder subjected to a variety of driving protocols. The driven system looses chiral symmetry (CS) whose presence is indispensable for its topological characterization. Further, the bulk boundary correspondence (BBC) gets adversely affected due to the presence of non-Hermitian skin effect (NHSE). Here, we propose a formalism that not only restores the broken CS but also re-establishes the BBC by constructing a generalized Brillouin zone (GBZ). Specifically, we employ delta and step drives to compare and contrast between them with regard to their impact on NHSE. Further, a widely studied harmonic drive is invoked in this context, not only for the sake of completeness, but its distinct computational framework offers valuable insights on the properties of out-of-equilibrium systems. While the delta and the harmonic drives exhibit unidirectional skin effect in the system, the step drive may show bi-directional skin effect. Also, there are specific points in the parameter space that are devoid of skin effect. These act as critical points that distinguish the skin modes to be localized at one boundary or the other. Moreover, for the computation of the non-Bloch invariants, we employ GBZ via a pair of symmetric time frames corresponding to the delta and the step drives, while a high-frequency expansion was carried out to deal with the harmonic drive. Finally, we present phase diagrams that delineate distinct NH phases by tracing the trajectories of exceptional points. These diagrams reveal the coexistence of zero and π modes in the strong NH regime, which could provide insights into Floquet time crystals.