65 research outputs found
Can translation invariant systems exhibit a Many-Body Localized phase?
This note is based on a talk by one of us, F. H., at the conference PSPDE II,
Minho 2013. We review some of our recent works related to (the possibility of)
Many-Body Localization in the absence of quenched disorder (in particular
arXiv:1305.5127,arXiv:1308.6263,arXiv:1405.3279). In these works, we provide
arguments why systems without quenched disorder can exhibit `asymptotic'
localization, but not genuine localization.Comment: To appear in the Proceedings of the conference Particle systems and
PDE's - II, held at the Center of Mathematics of the University of Minho in
December 201
Spreading, Nonergodicity, and Selftrapping: a puzzle of interacting disordered lattice waves
Localization of waves by disorder is a fundamental physical problem
encompassing a diverse spectrum of theoretical, experimental and numerical
studies in the context of metal-insulator transitions, the quantum Hall effect,
light propagation in photonic crystals, and dynamics of ultra-cold atoms in
optical arrays, to name just a few examples. Large intensity light can induce
nonlinear response, ultracold atomic gases can be tuned into an interacting
regime, which leads again to nonlinear wave equations on a mean field level.
The interplay between disorder and nonlinearity, their localizing and
delocalizing effects is currently an intriguing and challenging issue in the
field of lattice waves. In particular it leads to the prediction and
observation of two different regimes of destruction of Anderson localization -
asymptotic weak chaos, and intermediate strong chaos, separated by a crossover
condition on densities. On the other side approximate full quantum interacting
many body treatments were recently used to predict and obtain a novel many body
localization transition, and two distinct phases - a localization phase, and a
delocalization phase, both again separated by some typical density scale. We
will discuss selftrapping, nonergodicity and nonGibbsean phases which are
typical for such discrete models with particle number conservation and their
relation to the above crossover and transition physics. We will also discuss
potential connections to quantum many body theories.Comment: 13 pages in Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 1 M.
Tlidi and M. G. Clerc (eds.), Nonlinear Dynamics: Materials, Theory and
Experiment, Springer Proceedings in Physics 173. arXiv admin note: text
overlap with arXiv:1405.112
Uniaxial strain in graphene by Raman spectroscopy: G peak splitting, Grüneisen parameters, and sample orientation
Graphene is the two-dimensional building block for carbon allotropes of every
other dimensionality. Since its experimental discovery, graphene continues to
attract enormous interest, in particular as a new kind of matter, in which
electron transport is governed by a Dirac-like wave equation, and as a model
system for studying electronic and phonon properties of other, more complex,
graphitic materials[1-4]. Here, we uncover the constitutive relation of
graphene and probe new physics of its optical phonons, by studying its Raman
spectrum as a function of uniaxial strain. We find that the doubly degenerate
E2g optical mode splits in two components, one polarized along the strain and
the other perpendicular to it. This leads to the splitting of the G peak into
two bands, which we call G+ and G-, by analogy with the effect of curvature on
the nanotube G peak[5-7]. Both peaks red shift with increasing strain, and
their splitting increases, in excellent agreement with first-principles
calculations. Their relative intensities are found to depend on light
polarization, which provides a useful tool to probe the graphene
crystallographic orientation with respect to the strain. The singly degenerate
2D and 2D' bands also red shift, but do not split for small strains. We study
the Gruneisen parameters for the phonons responsible for the G, D and D' peaks.
These can be used to measure the amount of uniaxial or biaxial strain,
providing a fundamental tool for nanoelectronics, where strain monitoring is of
paramount importance[8, 9
Finite temperature phase transition for disordered weakly interacting bosons in one dimension
It is commonly accepted that there are no phase transitions in
one-dimensional (1D) systems at a finite temperature, because long-range
correlations are destroyed by thermal fluctuations. Here we demonstrate that
the 1D gas of short-range interacting bosons in the presence of disorder can
undergo a finite temperature phase transition between two distinct states:
fluid and insulator. None of these states has long-range spatial correlations,
but this is a true albeit non-conventional phase transition because transport
properties are singular at the transition point. In the fluid phase the mass
transport is possible, whereas in the insulator phase it is completely blocked
even at finite temperatures. We thus reveal how the interaction between
disordered bosons influences their Anderson localization. This key question,
first raised for electrons in solids, is now crucial for the studies of atomic
bosons where recent experiments have demonstrated Anderson localization in
expanding very dilute quasi-1D clouds.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure
Interaction-induced edge states in anisotropic non-Fermi liquids
We devise an approach to calculation of scaling dimensions of generic operators describing scattering within multi-channel Luttinger liquid. The local impurity scattering in arbitrary configuration of conducting and insulating channels is investigated and the problem is reduced to a single algebraic matrix equation. The application to a semi-infinite array of chains described by Luttinger liquid models demonstrates that for a weak inter-chain hybridisation and intra-channel electron-electron attraction the edge wire is robust against disorder whereas bulk wires, on contrary, become insulating in some region of inter-chain interaction parameters. This result proves that the edge states may exist in disordered anisotropic strongly correlated systems without time-reversal symmetry breaking or spin-orbit interaction and provide quantized low-temperature transport
Many-body localization in a quantum simulator with programmable random disorder
When a system thermalizes it loses all local memory of its initial
conditions. This is a general feature of open systems and is well described by
equilibrium statistical mechanics. Even within a closed (or reversible) quantum
system, where unitary time evolution retains all information about its initial
state, subsystems can still thermalize using the rest of the system as an
effective heat bath. Exceptions to quantum thermalization have been predicted
and observed, but typically require inherent symmetries or noninteracting
particles in the presence of static disorder. The prediction of many-body
localization (MBL), in which disordered quantum systems can fail to thermalize
in spite of strong interactions and high excitation energy, was therefore
surprising and has attracted considerable theoretical attention. Here we
experimentally generate MBL states by applying an Ising Hamiltonian with
long-range interactions and programmably random disorder to ten spins
initialized far from equilibrium. We observe the essential signatures of MBL:
memory retention of the initial state, a Poissonian distribution of energy
level spacings, and entanglement growth in the system at long times. Our
platform can be scaled to higher numbers of spins, where detailed modeling of
MBL becomes impossible due to the complexity of representing such entangled
quantum states. Moreover, the high degree of control in our experiment may
guide the use of MBL states as potential quantum memories in naturally
disordered quantum systems.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure
Raman spectroscopy as a versatile tool for studying the properties of graphene.
Raman spectroscopy is an integral part of graphene research. It is used to determine the number and orientation of layers, the quality and types of edge, and the effects of perturbations, such as electric and magnetic fields, strain, doping, disorder and functional groups. This, in turn, provides insight into all sp(2)-bonded carbon allotropes, because graphene is their fundamental building block. Here we review the state of the art, future directions and open questions in Raman spectroscopy of graphene. We describe essential physical processes whose importance has only recently been recognized, such as the various types of resonance at play, and the role of quantum interference. We update all basic concepts and notations, and propose a terminology that is able to describe any result in literature. We finally highlight the potential of Raman spectroscopy for layered materials other than graphene
Localization of preformed Cooper pairs in disordered superconductors
International audienceThe most profound effect of disorder on electronic systems is the localization of the electrons transforming an otherwise metallic system into an insulator. If the metal is also a superconductor then, at low temperatures, disorder can induce a pronounced transition from a superconducting into an insulating state. An outstanding question is whether the route to insulating behaviour proceeds through the direct localization of Cooper pairs or, alternatively, by a two-step process in which the Cooper pairing is first destroyed followed by the standard localization of single electrons. Here we address this question by studying the local superconducting gap of a highly disordered amorphous superconductor by means of scanning tunnelling spectroscopy. Our measurements reveal that, in the vicinity of the superconductor-insulator transition, the coherence peaks in the one-particle density of states disappear whereas the superconducting gap remains intact, indicating the presence of localized Cooper pairs. Our results provide the first direct evidence that the superconductor-insulator transition in some homogeneously disordered materials is driven by Cooper-pair localization
Micro-Raman and micro-transmission imaging of epitaxial graphene grown on the Si and C faces of 6H-SiC
Micro-Raman and micro-transmission imaging experiments have been done on epitaxial graphene grown on the C- and Si-faces of on-axis 6H-SiC substrates. On the C-face it is shown that the SiC sublimation process results in the growth of long and isolated graphene ribbons (up to 600 μm) that are strain-relaxed and lightly p-type doped. In this case, combining the results of micro-Raman spectroscopy with micro-transmission measurements, we were able to ascertain that uniform monolayer ribbons were grown and found also Bernal stacked and misoriented bilayer ribbons. On the Si-face, the situation is completely different. A full graphene coverage of the SiC surface is achieved but anisotropic growth still occurs, because of the step-bunched SiC surface reconstruction. While in the middle of reconstructed terraces thin graphene stacks (up to 5 layers) are grown, thicker graphene stripes appear at step edges. In both the cases, the strong interaction between the graphene layers and the underlying SiC substrate induces a high compressive thermal strain and n-type doping
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