Dresden 2014 – scientific programme

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DY: Fachverband Dynamik und Statistische Physik

DY 2: Quantum Dynamics, Decoherence and Quantum Information

DY 2.1: Invited Talk

Monday, March 31, 2014, 09:30–10:00, HÜL 186

Welcome to Twin Peaks: momentum-space signatures of Anderson localization — •Cord A. Müller — Fachbereich Physik, Universität Konstanz

Quantum Systems with structural disorder present unusual challenges when is comes to understanding long-time limits of their phase-space dynamics. In particular, Anderson localization is well known to suppress classical diffusion of (matter) waves in real space—but much less is known about its momentum-space signatures.

Recently, a new signature of strong Anderson localization has been discovered for ultracold atoms following a quantum quench: a twin-peak signal in the particles’ momentum distribution. This structure combines the familiar back-scattering peak with a coherent forward-scattering peak [1]. The forward peak appears to be a genuine signal for the onset of strong localization, surviving in the presence of weak magnetic fields. Recent non-perturbative calculations in a quasi-1D setting [2] have confirmed that the forward peak can serve as a reliable signature of Anderson localization. This theory describes the peak’s temporal genesis as well as its aymptotic features such as width and height, and arguably presents the only instance where the temporal evolution of a strong localization phenomenon can be described analytically at all times.

[1] T. Karpiuk et al., PRL 109, 190601 (2012)

[2] T. Micklitz et al., arXiv:1311.2268