Localization by virtual transitions in correlated disorder

Alex Dikopoltsev, Hanan Herzig Sheinfux, Mordechai Segev

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

Anderson localization is fundamentally relevant to all physical systems where coherent waves evolve in the presence of disorder. Physically, any disorder must have a finite spectral bandwidth, hence the disorder is always correlated. Here, we study the regime of localization mediated by virtual transitions in correlated disorder. We find that wave packets centered outside of the spectral extent of the disorder can localize, with localization length almost as short as for localization via first-order transitions. In this regime, virtual transitions lead to phenomena with profound significance, such as mobility edges, and strong localization in regions of momentum space where otherwise localization would be extremely weak. Remarkably, in two-dimensional systems, we show localization can occur in directions that cannot be reached by direct scattering from the disordered potential.

Original languageEnglish
Article number140202
JournalPhysical Review B
Volume100
Issue number14
DOIs
StatePublished - 11 Oct 2019
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 American Physical Society.

Funding

The authors wish to thank Prof. B. Shapiro (Technion) and Prof. Y. Bar Lev (Ben Gurion University) for useful discussions. This research was supported by the Israel Science Foundation and by the German-Israeli DIP Program. H.H.S. gratefully acknowledges the support by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship.

FundersFunder number
German-Israeli DIP
H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
Israel Science Foundation

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Localization by virtual transitions in correlated disorder'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this