Super-exponential diffusion in nonlinear non-Hermitian systems

We investigate the quantum diffusion of a periodically kicked particle subjecting to both nonlinearity induced self-interactions and mathcal{PT}-symmetric potentials. We find that, due to the interplay between the nonlinearity and non-Hermiticity, the expectation value of mean square of momentum scales with time in a super-exponential form langle p²(t)rangleproptoexp\[βexp(αt)\], which is faster than any known rates of quantum diffusion. In the mathcal{PT}-symmetry-breaking phase, the intensity of a state increases exponentially with time, leading to the exponential growth of the interaction strength. The feedback of the intensity-dependent nonlinearity further turns the interaction energy into the kinetic energy, resulting in a super-exponential growth of the mean energy. These theoretical predictions are in good agreement with numerical simulations in a cal{PT}-symmetric nonlinear kicked particle. Our discovery establishes a new mechanism of diffusion in interacting and dissipative quantum systems. Important implications and possible experimental observations are discussed.