Exceptional line and pseudospectrum in black hole spectroscopy

We investigate the exceptional points (EPs) and their pseudospectra in black hole perturbation theory. By considering a Gaussian bump modification to the Regge-Wheeler potential with variable amplitude, position, and width parameters, \(varepsilon,d,σ₀\), a continuous line of EPs (exceptional line, EL) in this three-dimensional parameter space is revealed. We find that the vorticity ν=pm1/2 and the Berry phase γ=π for loops encircling the EL, while ν=0 and γ=0 for those do not encircle the EL. Through matrix perturbation theory, we prove that the ε-pseudospectrum contour size scales as ε^1/q at an EP, where q is the order of the largest Jordan block of the Hamiltonian-like operator, contrasting with the linear ε scaling at non-EPs. Numerical implements confirm this observation, demonstrating enhanced spectral instability at EPs for non-Hermitian systems including black holes.