Impurity coupled to a lattice with disorder

Abstract

We study the time-dependent occupation of an impurity state hybridized with a continuum of extended or localized states. Of particular interest is the return probability, which gives the long-time limit of the average impurity occupation. In the extended case, the return probability is zero unless there are bound states of the impurity and continuum. We present exact expressions for the return probability of an impurity state coupled to a lattice, and show that the existence of bound states depends on the dimension of the lattice. In a disordered lattice with localized eigenstates, the finite extent of the eigenstates results in a non-zero return probability. We investigate different parameter regimes numerically by exact diagonalization, and show that the return probability can serve as a measure of the localization length in the regime of weak hybridization and disorder. Possible experimental realizations with ultracold atoms are discussed.