Localized and extended states in a disordered trap

We study Anderson localization in a disordered potential combined with an inhomogeneous trap. We show that the spectrum displays both localized and extended states, which coexist at intermediate energies. In the region of coexistence, we find that the extended states result from confinement by the trap and are weakly affected by the disorder. Conversely, the localized states correspond to eigenstates of the disordered potential, which are only affected by the trap via an inhomogeneous energy shift. These results are relevant to disordered quantum gases and we propose a realistic scheme to observe the coexistence of localized and extended states in these systems.     

Intraband discrete breathers in disordered nonlinear systems. I. Delocalization

The existence of Discrete Breathers or DBs (also called Intrinsic Localized Modes or ILMs) and multibreathers, is investigated in a simple one-dimensional chain of random anharmonic oscillators with quartic potentials coupled by springs. When the breather frequency is outside and above the linearized (phonon) spectrum, the existence theorems and numerical methods previously used in periodic nonlinear models for finding time-periodic and spatially localized solutions, hold identically in random nonlinear systems. These solutions are extraband discrete breathers (EDBs). When the frequencies penetrate inside the linearized spectrum, the existence theorems do not hold. Our numerical investigations demonstrate that the strict continuation of (localized) EDBs as intraband discrete breathers (IDBs) is impossible because of cascades of bifurcations generating many discontinuities. A detailed analysis of these bifurcations for small systems with increasing sizes, shows that only a relatively small subset of the spatially extended multibreathers can be strictly continued while their frequency varies inside the phonon spectrum. We propose an ansatz for finding the coding sequences of these solutions and continuing safely these multibreathers in finite systems of any size. This continuation ends at a lower limit frequency where the solution annihilates through a bifurcation with another multibreather. A smaller subset of these multibreather solutions can be continued to amplitude zero and become linear localized modes at this limit. Conversely, any linear localized mode can be continued when increasing its frequency as an extended multibreather. Extrapolation of these results to infinite systems yields the main conclusion of this first part which is that nonlinearity in disordered systems (with localized eigenmodes only) restores their capability of energy transportation by generating infinitely many spatially extended time-periodic solutions. This approach yields mainly spatially extended solutions, except sometimes at their bifurcation points. In the second part of this work, which is presented in our next article, we develop an accurate method for calculating in situ localized IDBs.     

Frustration and glassiness in spin models with cavity-mediated interactions

We show that the effective spin-spin interaction between three-level atoms confined in a multimode optical cavity is long-ranged and sign changing, like the RKKY interaction; therefore, ensembles of such atoms subject to frozen-in positional randomness can realize spin systems having disordered and frustrated interactions. We argue that, whenever the atoms couple to sufficiently many cavity modes, the cavity-mediated interactions give rise to a spin glass. In addition, we show that the quantum dynamics of cavity-confined spin systems is that of a Bose-Hubbard model with strongly disordered hopping but no on-site disorder; this model exhibits a random-singlet glass phase, absent in conventional optical-lattice realizations. We briefly discuss experimental signatures of the realizable phases.     

Non-Hermitian topological Anderson insulators

Non-Hermitian systems can exhibit exotic topological and localization properties.Here we elucidate the non-Hermitian effects on disordered topological systems using a nonreciprocal disordered Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model.We show that the non-Hermiticity can enhance the topological phase against disorders by increasing bulk gaps.Moreover,we uncover a topological phase which emerges under both moderate non-Hermiticity and disorders,and is characterized by localized insulating bulk states with a disorder-averaged winding number and zero-energy edge modes.Such topological phases induced by the combination of non-Hermiticity and disorders are dubbed non-Hermitian topological Anderson insulators.We reveal that the system has unique non-monotonous localization behavior and the topological transition is accompanied by an Anderson transition.These properties are general in other non-Hermitian models.     

Collective escape processes in many-particle systems

We study collective escape phenomena in nonlinear chain models. First we investigate the fragmentation of an overdamped polymer chain due to thermal fluctuations in the absence of an external force. We calculate the activation times of individual bonds in the coupled chain system and compare them with times obtained from Brownian dynamics simulations. We also consider a grafted chain exposed to an external force which monotonically grows as time goes on. In underdamped situations we show that collective localized excitations in a nonlinear force field with absorbing states can cause polymer fragmentation. In a similar fashion, localized modes assist a thermally activated escape of interacting particles in a metastable potential landscape which is additionally subjected to a periodic driving. The latter is necessary to obtain overcritical elongations which create localized modes even in case of stronger damping.     

Design principles and coupling mechanisms in the 2D quantum well topological insulator HgTe/CdTe

We present atomistic band structure calculations revealing a different mechanism than recently surmised via k · p calculations about the evolution of the topological state (TS) in HgTe/CdTe. We show that 2D interface (not 1D edge) TSs are possible. We find that the transitions from a topological insulator at critical HgTe thickness of n = 23 ML (6.453 [corrected] ?) to a normal insulator at smaller n is due to the crossing between two interface-localized states: one derived from the S-like Γ?(c) and one derived from the P-like Γ?(v) light hole, not because of the crossing of an interface state and an extended quantum well state. These atomistic calculations suggest that a 2D TS can exist in a 2D system, even without truncating its symmetry to 1D, thus explaining the otherwise surprising similarity between the 2D dispersion curves of the TS in HgTe/CdTe with those of the TS in 3D bulk materials such as Bi?Se?.     

Transport of Nonautonomous Solitons in Two‐Dimensional Disordered Media

Transport of localized nonlinear excitations in disordered media is an interesting and important topic in modern physics. Investigated in this work is transport of two‐dimensional (2D) solitons for a nonlinear Schrödinger equation with inhomogeneous nonlocality and disorder. We use the variational method to show that, the shape (size) of solitons can be manipulated through adjusting the nonlocality, which, in turn, affects the soliton mobility. Direct numerical simulations reveal that the influence of disorder on the soliton transport accords with our analysis by the variational method. Besides, we have demonstrated an anisotropic transport of the 2D nonautonomous solitons as well. Our study is expected to shed light on modulating solitons through material properties for specifying their transport in disordered media.     

非完整超晶格中电子透射问题的计算机模拟

采用转移矩阵方法,模拟研究了垒高无序和阱宽无序非完整超晶格的电子态问题.计算了垒高无序有限超晶格的透射谱和其局域态波函数以及阱宽无序有限超晶格的透射谱和本征值,直观地给出了垒高无序和阱宽无序非完整有限超晶格其电子态行为的物理图像.模拟结果表明:垒高无序和阱宽无序这两种常见非完整一维有限超晶格的子带带隙间均存在强烈的电子运动定域化,且电子波的布喇格散射对周期性势场更敏感;这两种非完整性引起的局域,通过计算电子局域态波函数和有限系统的本征值得到了证实;对本文讨论的这种类型和周期的超晶格,如果控制阱宽在9.1～10.9nm间随机变化,即阱宽的值最大相差1.8岫时,计算机模拟的结果是,阱宽的这种非周期性开始使子带的带隙消失.     

Optical necklace states in Anderson localized 1D systems

We report on the observation of nonlocalized modes or necklace states of light waves in disordered systems in the Anderson localized regime. The samples consist of positional-disordered binary multilayer systems. Anderson localized modes manifest themselves as narrow high-transmission peaks in the transmission spectrum, whereas the average of the logarithm of the transmission coefficient decreases linearly with thickness. Optical necklace states are observed as modes with a characteristic multiresonance time response and relatively fast decay time.     

Higher-order solitons in amplitude-disordered waveguide arrays

We investigate the existence and stability of different families of spatial solitons in optical waveguide arrays whose amplitudes obey a disordered distribution. The competition between focusing nonlinearity and linearly disordered refractive index modulation results in the formation of spatial localized nonlinear states. Solitons originating from Anderson modes with few nodes are robust during propagation. While multi-peaked solitons with in-phase neighboring components are completely unstable, multipole-mode solitons whose neighboring components are out-of-phase can propagate stably in wide parameter regions provided that their power exceeds a critical value. Our findings, thus, provide the first example of stable higher-order nonlinear states in disordered systems.     

A method for characterizing the localized dynamics of boundary defects in crystalline systems

A bound semi-infinite two-dimensional crystalline system is considered with an isolated inhomogeneity in the form of a semi-infinite linear atomic chain differing in elastic constants from the rest of the system. This is a precursor model to develop a method for determining the frequencies of the localized vibrational modes on the extremity of isolated inhomogeneities that break the translation symmetry in two directions in boundaries. To treat both the localized states and diffraction problems, the mathematical framework of the matching method is generalized from one to two dimensions. Only the localized modes analysis is presented. This formalism leads to a complete representation of the two-dimensional evanescent vibrational field in the neighbourhood of an isolated inhomogeneity. It is an analytical approach that is independent of the nanostructure of the isolated inhomogeneity, which makes it easy to extend to a variety of real probelms. Numerical results for the frequencies of the modes localized on the extremity of the semi-infinite chain in the boundary are given for a case study. The method can be applied systematically to analyze the dynamics of extended surface defects such as steps, ridges or lines of substitute atoms.     

Quasi-Bound States of Two Magnons in the Spin-1/2XXZ Chain

We study two-magnon Bethe states in the spin-1/2 XXZ chain. The string hypothesis assumes that complex rapidities of the bound states take special forms. It is known, however, that there exist “non-string states,” which substantially disagrees with the string hypothesis. In order to clarify their nature, we study the large-N behavior of solutions of the Bethe-Ansatz equations to obtain explicit forms of typical Bethe states, where N is the length of the chain, and apply the scaling analysis (the multifractal analysis) to the Bethe states. It turns out that the non-string states contain “quasi-bound” states, which in some sense continuously interpolate between extended states and localized states. The “quasi-bound” states can be distinguished from known three types of states, i.e., extended, localized, and critical states. Our results indicate that there might be a need to reconsider the standard classification scheme of wavefunctions.     

Lattice vibrational analysis of polyacene

Within an extended Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model, we made a lattice vibrational analysis of polyacene. In a singly-charged polyacene, the ground state contains an interchain-coupled polaron of quasi-D2h symmetry, around which we found thirteen localized modes in total. Among these localized modes, five (three B2u and two B3u) are infrared active, six (four Ag and two B1g) modes are Raman active, and the other two localized modes are asymmetric, which are both infrared active and Raman active. For the case a charged polaron is coupled with a neutral soliton in a finite polyacene chain, the vibrational modes are also calculated to display the coupling effect between self-trapping excitations on phonons. It is found that the localized phonons are determined mainly by the charged polaron, but the number and frequencies of the localized modes are influenced by the existence of the neutral soliton.     

Light localization in nonuniformly randomized lattices

We address Anderson localization of light in disordered optical lattices where the disorder strength varies across the transverse direction. Such variation changes the preferred domains where formation of localized eigenmodes is most probable, hence drastically impacting light localization properties. Thus, step-like disorder results in formation of modes with different decay rates at both sides of the interface, while a smoothly varying disorder yields appearance of modes that are extended within weakly disordered domains and rapidly fade away in strongly disordered domains.     

具有p波超流的一维非公度晶格中迁移率边研究

研究了具有p波超流的一维非公度晶格中迁移率边的性质. 发现适当的p波超流可以增加体系中的迁移率边的数目, 并且通过多分形分析确定了迁移率边所在的位置.     

Extended State to Localization in Random Aperiodic Chains

The electronic states in Thus-Morse chain (TMC) and generalized Fibonacci chain (GFC) are studied by solving eigenequation and using transfer matrix method. Two model Hamiltonians are studied. One contains the nearest neighbor (n.n.) hopping terms only and the other has additionally next nearest neighbor (n.n.n.) hopping terms. Based on the transfer matrix method, a criterion of transition from the extended to the localized states is suggested for GFC and TMC. The numerical calculation shows the existence of both extended and localized states in pure aperiodic system. A random potential is introduced to the diagonal term of the Hamiltonian and then the extended states are always changed to be localized. The exponents related to the localization length as a function of randomness are calculated. For different kinds of aperiodic chain, the critical value of randomness for the transition from extended to the localized states are found to be zero, consistent with the case of ordinary one-dimensional systems.     

Antiresonance and decoupling in electronic transport through parallel-coupled quantum-dot structures with laterally-coupled Majorana zero modes

We theoretically investigate the electronic transport through a parallel-coupled multi-quantum-dot system, in which the terminal dots of a one-dimensional quantum-dot chain are embodied in the two arms of an Aharonov–Bohm interferometer. It is found that in the structures of odd(even) dots, all their even(odd) molecular states have opportunities to decouple from the leads, and in this process antiresonance occurs which are accordant with the odd(even)-numbered eigenenergies of the sub-molecule without terminal dots. Next when Majorana zero modes are introduced to couple laterally to the terminal dots, the antiresonance and decoupling phenomena still co-exist in the quantum transport process. Such a result can be helpful in understanding the special influence of Majorana zero mode on the electronic transport through quantum-dot systems.     

Extended State to Localization in Random Aperiodic Chains

The electronic states in Thus-Morse chain （TMC） and generalized Fibonacci chain （GFC） are studied by solving eigenequation and using transfer matrix method. Two model Hamiltonians are studied. One contains the nearest neighbor （n.n.） hopping terms only and the other has additionally next nearest neighbor （n.n.n.） hopping terms. Based on the transfer matrix method, a criterion of transition from the extended to the localized states is suggested for CFC and TMC. The numerical calculation shows the existence of both extended and localized states in pure aperiodic system. A random potential is introduced to the diagonal term of the Hamiltonian and then the extended states are always changed to be localized. The exponents related to the localization length as a function of randomness are calculated. For different kinds of aperiodic chain, the critical value of randomness for the transition from extended to the localized states are found to be zero, consistent with the case of ordinary one-dimensional systems.     

Charge fractionalization in biased bilayer graphene

Fractional charge may arise when fermionic zero modes exist in a topological background field. In biased bilayer graphene (BBLG), the bias plays the role of the nontrivial background field. When semi-infinite BBLG with a zigzag edge is used, the dynamics induces an odd number of zero-energy modes, which, together with the conjugation symmetry between positive-?and negative-energy states, are the requisite conditions for fractionalization. Exploiting the trigonal interaction to isolate a given zero-energy mode on the zigzag edge, we consider extended and localized modes (the latter being obtained from a localized wavepacket generated by prior irradiation of the sample with an electromagnetic vortex). The valley degeneracy is lifted by a layer asymmetry, while an edge-induced spin polarization breaks the spin degeneracy. We describe scenarios for the detection of charge-[Formula: see text] edge states.     

Delocalized 2-magnons eigenstates in long-range correlated random Heisenberg chains

We consider the one-dimensional quantum disordered Heisenberg ferromagnetic chain model with long-range correlated exchange couplings and study the nature of collective two-spin excitations. By using an exact diagonalization of the Hamiltonian in the two-spin flip subspace, we compute the spin wave participation number to characterize the localized or delocalized nature of the two-magnon states. For strongly correlated random exchange couplings, extended two-spin excitations with finite energy appear. Integrating the time-dependent Schroedinger equation, we follow the time-evolution of an initially localized two-spin state. We find that, associated with the emergence of extended spin waves, the wave-packet mean-square displacement develops a ballistic spread. Further, the single-spin wave-packet acquires an asymmetric profile due to the kinematic interaction between the excited spins.