Light localization signatures in backscattering from periodic disordered media

The backscattering line shape is analytically predicted for thick disordered medium films where, remarkably, the medium configuration is periodic along the direction perpendicular to the incident light. A blunt triangular peak is found to emerge on the sharp top. The phenomenon roots in the coexistence of quasi-1D localization and 2D extended states.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. accepted for publication in JETP Let

Hydrodynamic and field-theoretic approaches of light localization in open media

Many complex systems exhibit hydrodynamic (or macroscopic) behavior at large scales characterized by few variables such as the particle number density, temperature and pressure obeying a set of hydrodynamic (or macroscopic) equations. Does the hydrodynamic description exist also for waves in complex open media? This is a long-standing fundamental problem in studies on wave localization. Practically, if it does exist, owing to its simplicity macroscopic equations can be mastered far more easily than sophisticated microscopic theories of wave localization especially for experimentalists. The purposes of the present paper are two-fold. On the one hand, it is devoted to a review of substantial recent progress in this subject. We show that in random open media the wave energy density obeys a highly unconventional macroscopic diffusion equation at scales much larger than the elastic mean free path. The diffusion coefficient is inhomogeneous in space; most strikingly, as a function of the distance to the interface, it displays novel single parameter scaling which captures the impact of rare high-transmission states that dominate long-time transport of localized waves. We review aspects of this novel macroscopic diffusive phenomenon. On the other hand, it is devoted to a review of the supersymmetric field theory of light localization in open media. In particular, we review its application in establishing a microscopic theory of the aforementioned unconventional diffusive phenomenon.Comment: 49 pages, 13 figures, review article invited by editors of Physica

Planck's quantum-driven integer quantum Hall effect in chaos

The integer quantum Hall effect (IQHE) and chaos are commonly conceived as being unrelated. Contrary to common wisdoms, we find in a canonical chaotic system, the kicked spin-$1/2$ rotor, a Planck's quantum($h_e$)-driven phenomenon bearing a firm analogy to IQHE but of chaos origin. Specifically, the rotor's energy growth is unbounded ('metallic' phase) for a discrete set of critical $h_e$-values, but otherwise bounded ('insulating' phase). The latter phase is topological in nature and characterized by a quantum number ('quantized Hall conductance'). The number jumps by unity whenever $h_e$ decreases passing through each critical value. Our findings, within the reach of cold-atom experiments, indicate that rich topological quantum phenomena may emerge from chaos.Comment: Fig. 1 and 2 modifie

The Ehrenfest Oscillations in The Level Statistics of Chaotic Quantum Dots

We study a crossover from classical to quantum picture in the electron energy statistics in a system with broken time-reversal symmetry. The perturbative and nonperturbative parts of the two level correlation function, $R(\omega)$ are analyzed. We find that in the intermediate region, $\Delta\ll\omega\sim t_E^{-1}\ll t_{erg}^{-1}$, where $t_E$ and $t_{erg}$ are the Ehrenfest and ergodic times, respectively, $R(\omega)$ consists of a series of oscillations with the periods depending on $t_E$, deviating from the universal Wigner-Dyson statistics. These Ehrenfest oscillations have the period dependence as $t_E^{-1}$ in the perturbative part. [For systems with time-reversal symmetry, this oscillation in the perturbative part of $R(\omega)$ was studied in an earlier work (I. L. Aleiner and A. I. Larkin, Phys. Rev. E {\bf 55}, R1243 (1997))]. In the nonperturbative part they have the period dependence as $(\Delta^{-1}+\alpha t_E)^{-1}$ with $\alpha$ a universal numerical factor. The amplitude of the leading order Ehrenfest oscillation in the nonperturbative part is larger than that of the perturbative part.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Symmetry and dynamics universality of supermetal in quantum chaos

Chaotic systems exhibit rich quantum dynamical behaviors ranging from dynamical localization to normal diffusion to ballistic motion. Dynamical localization and normal diffusion simulate electron motion in an impure crystal with a vanishing and finite conductivity, i.e., an "Anderson insulator" and a "metal", respectively. Ballistic motion simulates a perfect crystal with diverging conductivity, i.e., a "supermetal". We analytically find and numerically confirm that, for a large class of chaotic systems, the metal-supermetal dynamics crossover occurs and is universal, determined only by the system's symmetry. Furthermore, we show that the universality of this dynamics crossover is identical to that of eigenfunction and spectral fluctuations described by the random matrix theory.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figure

Wave thermalization and its implications for nonequilibrium statistical mechanics

Understanding the rich spatial and temporal structures in nonequilibrium thermal environments is a major subject of statistical mechanics. Because universal laws, based on an ensemble of systems, are mute on an individual system, exploring nonequilibrium statistical mechanics and the ensuing universality in individual systems has long been of fundamental interest. Here, by adopting the wave description of microscopic motion, and combining the recently developed eigenchannel theory and the mathematical tool of the concentration of measure, we show that in a single complex medium, a universal spatial structure - the diffusive steady state - emerges from an overwhelming number of scattering eigenstates of the wave equation. Our findings suggest a new principle, dubbed "the wave thermalization", namely, a propagating wave undergoing complex scattering processes can simulate nonequilibrium thermal environments, and exhibit macroscopic nonequilibrium phenomena.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

Many-body eigenstate thermalization from one-body quantum chaos: emergent arrow of time

A profound quest of statistical mechanics is the origin of irreversibility - the arrow of time. New stimulants have been provided, thanks to unprecedented degree of control reached in experiments with isolated quantum systems and rapid theoretical developments of manybody localization in disordered interacting systems. The proposal of (many-body) eigenstate thermalization (ET) for these systems reinforces the common belief that either interaction or extrinsic randomness is required for thermalization. Here, we unveil a quantum thermalization mechanism challenging this belief. We find that, provided one-body quantum chaos is present, as a pure many-body state evolves the arrow of time can emerge, even without interaction or randomness. In times much larger than the Ehrenfest time that signals the breakdown of quantum-classical correspondence, quantum chaotic motion leads to thermal [Fermi-Dirac (FD) or Bose-Einstein (BE)] distributions and thermodynamics in individual eigenstates. Our findings lay dynamical foundation of statistical mechanics and thermodynamics of isolated quantum systems.Comment: 6.1 pages, 3 figures, 7-page supplementary materia

Self-duality triggered dynamical transition

A basic result about the dynamics of spinless quantum systems is that the Maryland model exhibits dynamical localization in any dimension. Here we implement mathematical spectral theory and numerical experiments to show that this result does not hold, when the 2-dimensional Maryland model is endowed with spin 1/2 -- hereafter dubbed spin-Maryland (SM) model. Instead, in a family of SM models, tuning the (effective) Planck constant drives dynamical localization{delocalization transitions of topological nature. These transitions are triggered by the self-duality, a symmetry generated by some transformation in the parameter -- the inverse Planck constant -- space. This provides significant insights to new dynamical phenomena such as what occur in the spinful quantum kicked rotor.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figure

Concentration-of-measure theory for structures and fluctuations of waves

The emergence of nonequilibrium phenomena in individual complex wave systems has long been of fundamental interests. Its analytic studies remain notoriously difficult. Using the mathematical tool of the concentration of measure (CM), we develop a theory for structures and fluctuations of waves in individual disordered media. We find that, for both diffusive and localized waves, fluctuations associated with the change in incoming waves ("wave-to-wave" fluctuations) exhibit a new kind of universalities, which does not exist in conventional mesoscopic fluctuations associated with the change in disorder realizations ("sample-to-sample" fluctuations), and originate from the coherence between the natural channels of waves -- the transmission eigenchannels. Using the results obtained for wave-to-wave fluctuations, we find the criterion for almost all stationary scattering states to exhibit the same spatial structure such as the diffusive steady state. We further show that the expectations of observables at stationary scattering states are independent of incoming waves and given by their averages with respect to eigenchannels. This suggests the possibility of extending the studies of thermalization of closed systems to open systems, which provides new perspectives for the emergence of nonequilibrium statistical phenomena.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, Supplemental Materials(13 pages, 6 figures

The spectral form factor near the Ehrenfest-time

We calculate the Ehrenfest-time dependence of the leading quantum correction to the spectral form factor of a ballistic chaotic cavity using periodic orbit theory. For the case of broken time-reversal symmetry, our result differs from that previously obtained using field-theoretic methods [Tian and Larkin, Phys. Rev. B 70, 035305 (2004)]. The discrepancy shows that short-time regularization procedures dramatically affect physics near the Ehrenfest-time.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figur