Programmable simulation of high-order exceptional point with a trapped ion

Abstract The nontrivial degeneracies in non-Hermitian systems, exceptional points (EPs), have attracted extensive attention due to intriguing phenomena. Compared with commonly observed second-order EPs, high-order EPs show rich physics due to their extended dimension and parameter space, ranging from the coalescence of EPs into higher-order EPs to potential applications in topological properties. However, these features also pose challenges in controlling multiple coherent and dissipative elements in a scaled system. Here we experimentally demonstrate a native programmable control to simulate a high-order non-Hermitian Hamiltonian in a multi-dimensional trapped ion system. We simulate a series of non-Hermitian systems with varied parameters and observe the coalescence of second-order EPs into fourth-order EPs. Our results pave the way for scalable quantum simulation of high-dimensional dissipative systems and can be beneficial for the application of high-order EPs in quantum sensing and quantum control.