Hidden continuous quantum phase transition without gap closing in non-Hermitian transverse Ising model

Continuous phase transition in quantum matters is a significant issue in condensed matter physics. In general, the continuous quantum phase transitions in many-body systems occur with gap closing. On the other hand, non-Hermitian systems could display quite different properties as their Hermitian counterparts. In this paper, we show that a hidden, continuous quantum phase transition occurs without gap closing in non-Hermitian transverse Ising model. By using a projected Jordan-Wigner transformation, the one-dimensional (1D) non-Hermitian transverse Ising model with ferromagnetic order is mapped on to 1D non-Hermitian Kitaev model with topological superconducting order and becomes exactly solvable. A hidden, continuous quantum phase transition is really normal-abnormal transition for fermionic correlation in the 1D non-Hermitian Kitaev model. In addition, similar hidden, continuous quantum phase transition is discovered in two-dimensional non-Hermitian transverse Ising model and thus becomes a universal feature in certain non-Hermitian many-body systems.