4 research outputs found
Super-diffusion in optical realizations of Anderson localization
We discuss the dynamics of particles in one dimension in potentials that are
random both in space and in time. The results are applied to recent optics
experiments on Anderson localization, in which the transverse spreading of a
beam is suppressed by random fluctuations in the refractive index. If the
refractive index fluctuates along the direction of the paraxial propagation of
the beam, the localization is destroyed. We analyze this broken localization,
in terms of the spectral decomposition of the potential. When the potential has
a discrete spectrum, the spread is controlled by the overlap of Chirikov
resonances in phase space. As the number of Fourier components is increased,
the resonances merge into a continuum, which is described by a Fokker-Planck
equation. We express the diffusion coefficient in terms of the spectral
intensity of the potential. For a general class of potentials that are commonly
used in optics, the solutions of the Fokker-Planck equation exhibit anomalous
diffusion in phase space, implying that when Anderson localization is broken by
temporal fluctuations of the potential, the result is transport at a rate
similar to a ballistic one or even faster. For a class of potentials which
arise in some existing realizations of Anderson localization atypical behavior
is found.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figure