{
  "abstract": "We use the exactly-solvable t Hooft model of 1+1D large-N_c QCD as a rigorous laboratory for the breakdown of analyticity of a causal response function, the meson two-point function. A PT-symmetric deformation i gamma(x-1/2) of the light-cone meson operator, the analogue of an imaginary chemical potential, drives the lowest two mesons to an exceptional point (EP) at gamma_c. Recasting the resolvent as a Jacobi continued fraction yields gamma_c in closed form: 2 pi g^2 N_c at the two-pole level, converging to 7.966 g^2 N_c by depth five -- an analytic, not numerical, threshold. The square-root exponent nu=1/2 is fixed by the 2x2 Jordan form and confirmed by finite-size scaling to N=1999. The breakdown has an unambiguous time-domain signature: the propagator norm is bounded for gamma < gamma_c, grows linearly at gamma_c (the Jordan secular law), and exponentially beyond -- observable, since the deformed operator is a non-Hermitian Wannier-Stark ladder, in photonic and topolectrical analogues. The threshold is locked to confinement, gamma_c propto g^2 N_c, and recurs as a uniform EP cascade; a second, non-reciprocal deformation yields an exactly-exponential non-Hermitian skin effect. This is the first analytically-controlled instance of exceptional-point analyticity breakdown in a confining gauge theory.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2606.10141",
  "author_total": 1,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Kejun Liu"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8d8g5vyerq1tm.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2606.10141",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "8d8g5vyerq1tm",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.10141",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "hep-th"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "math-ph"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "math.MP"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "quant-ph"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3107|Quantum Mechanics and Non-Hermitian Physics"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7164178847",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2606.10141",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-03",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8d8g5vyerq1tm.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:18:31Z",
      "native_id": "2606.10141",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.10141"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "mathematics",
      "origin": "arxiv:math-ph",
      "subfield": "mathematical-physics"
    },
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:hep-th",
      "subfield": "high-energy"
    },
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:quant-ph",
      "subfield": "quantum"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Exceptional Points as Manifestations of Analyticity Breakdown in the 't Hooft Model",
  "title_text": "Exceptional Points as Manifestations of Analyticity Breakdown in the 't Hooft Model",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:18:36Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8d8g5vyerq1tm",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}