Critical dynamics and superconducting state preparation in the quenched Kitaev chain with pairing imbalance

Abstract

The dynamical balance of the pairing term plays a crucial role in the emergence of topological superconductivity in the p-wave spinless Kitaev chain, particularly in the non-Hermitian regime. In this work, we systematically investigate the effects of non-Hermitian pairing terms on both equilibrium and nonequilibrium phenomena in the Kitaev chain. Our analysis focuses on two representative forms of pairing imbalance: uniform and staggered. We demonstrate that a uniform imbalance induces only minor perturbations to the spectrum and dynamical properties, without significantly affecting its equilibrium phase or nonequilibrium steady behavior. In contrast, even a slight staggered imbalance leads to drastic changes. At the symmetry point, it enables the resonant generation of two distinct superconducting states through critical dynamics, with the realized state determined by the direction of the bias. Both states exhibit exact off-diagonal long-range order (ODLRO) in the thermodynamic limit. Our results emphasize the fragility of coherent dynamics in non-Hermitian topological systems and elucidate the interplay among non-Hermiticity, topology, and dynamical criticality in quench processes.