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S. Flach

Publications and source records attributed to S. Flach.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
arXiv2014

Resonant metallic states in driven quasiperiodic lattices

We consider a quasiperiodic Aubry-Andre (AA) model and add a weak time-periodic and spatially quasiperiodic perturbation. The undriven AA model is chosen to be well in the insulating regime. The spatial quasiperiodic perturbation extends the model into two dimensions in reciprocal space. For a spatial resonance which reduces the reciprocal space dynamics to an effective one-dimensional two-leg ladder case, the ac perturbation resonantly couples certain groups of localized eigenstates of the undriven AA model and turns them into extended metallic ones. Slight detuning of the spatial and temporal frequencies off resonance returns these states into localized ones. We analyze the details of the resonant metallic eigenstates using Floquet representations. In particular, we find that their size grows linearly with the system size. Initial wave packets overlap with resonant metallic eigenstates and lead to ballistic spreading.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗
arXiv2014

Quantum chaotic subdiffusion in random potentials

Two interacting particles (TIP) in a disordered chain propagate beyond the single particle localization length $ξ_1$ up to a scale $ξ_2 > ξ_1$. An initially strongly localized TIP state expands almost ballistically up to $ξ_1$. The expansion of the TIP wave function beyond the distance $ξ_1 \gg 1$ is governed by highly connected Fock states in the space of noninteracting eigenfunctions. The resulting dynamics is subdiffusive, and the second moment grows as $m_2 \sim t^{1/2}$, precisely as in the strong chaos regime for corresponding nonlinear wave equations. This surprising outcome stems from the huge Fock connectivity and resulting quantum chaos. The TIP expansion finally slows down towards a complete halt -- in contrast to the nonlinear case.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗
arXiv2014

Delocalization of wave packets in disordered nonlinear chains

We consider the spatiotemporal evolution of a wave packet in disordered nonlinear Schrödinger and anharmonic oscillator chains. In the absence of nonlinearity all eigenstates are spatially localized with an upper bound on the localization length (Anderson localization). Nonlinear terms in the equations of motion destroy Anderson localization due to nonintegrability and deterministic chaos. At least a finite part of an initially localized wave packet will subdiffusively spread without limits. We analyze the details of this spreading process. We compare the evolution of single site, single mode and general finite size excitations, and study the statistics of detrapping times. We investigate the properties of mode-mode resonances, which are responsible for the incoherent delocalization process.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗
arXiv2013

Actively coupled optical waveguides

We consider light propagation through a pair of nonlinear optical waveguides with absorption, placed in a medium with power gain. The active medium boosts the in-phase component of the overlapping evanescent fields of the guides, while the nonlinearity of the guides couples it to the damped out-of-phase component creating a feedback loop. As a result, the structure exhibits stable stationary and oscillatory regimes in a wide range of gain-loss ratios. We show that the pair of actively-coupled ($\mathcal{AC}$) waveguides can act as a stationary or integrate-and-fire comparator sensitive to tiny differences in their input powers.

physics.optics↗
arXiv2013

Decohering localized waves

In the absence of confinement localization of waves takes place due to randomness or nonlinearity and relies on their phase coherence. We quantitatively probe the sensitivity of localized wave packets to random phase fluctuations and confirm the necessity of phase coherence for localization. Decoherence resulting from a dynamical random environment leads to diffusive spreading and destroys linear and nonlinear localization. We find that maximal spreading is achieved for optimal phase fluctuation characteristics which is a consequence of the competition between diffusion due to decoherence and ballistic transport within the mean free path distance.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗
arXiv2012

Universal subdiffusion of nonlinear waves in two dimensions with disorder

We follow the dynamics of nonlinear waves in two-dimensional disordered lattices with tunable nonlinearity. In the absence of nonlinear terms Anderson localization traps the packet in space. For the nonlinear case a destruction of Anderson localization is found. The packet spreads subdiffusively, and its second moment grows in time asymptotically as $t^α$. We perform fine statistical averaging and test theoretical predictions for $α$. Along with a precise confirmation of the predictions in [Chemical Physics \textbf{375}, 548 (2010)], we also find potentially long lasting intermediate deviations due to a growing number of surface resonances of the wave packet.

nlin.CD↗
arXiv2011

Interactions destroy dynamical localization with strong and weak chaos

Bose-Einstein condensates loaded into kicked optical lattices can be treated as quantum kicked rotor systems. Noninteracting rotors show dynamical localization in momentum space. The experimentally tunable condensate interaction is included in a qualitative Gross-Pitaevskii type model based on two-body interactions. We observe strong and weak chaos regimes of wave packet spreading in momentum space. In the intermediate strong chaos regime the condensate energy grows as $t^{1/2}$. In the asymptotic weak chaos case the growth crosses over into a $t^{1/3}$ law. The results do not depend on the details of the kicking.

nlin.CD↗
arXiv2011

Anderson localization or nonlinear waves? A matter of probability

In linear disordered systems Anderson localization makes any wave packet stay localized for all times. Its fate in nonlinear disordered systems is under intense theoretical debate and experimental study. We resolve this dispute showing that at any small but finite nonlinearity (energy) value there is a finite probability for Anderson localization to break up and propagating nonlinear waves to take over. It increases with nonlinearity (energy) and reaches unity at a certain threshold, determined by the initial wave packet size. Moreover, the spreading probability stays finite also in the limit of infinite packet size at fixed total energy. These results are generalized to higher dimensions as well.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗
arXiv2011

The weak password problem: chaos, criticality, and encrypted p-CAPTCHAs

Vulnerabilities related to weak passwords are a pressing global economic and security issue. We report a novel, simple, and effective approach to address the weak password problem. Building upon chaotic dynamics, criticality at phase transitions, CAPTCHA recognition, and computational round-off errors we design an algorithm that strengthens security of passwords. The core idea of our method is to split a long and secure password into two components. The first component is memorized by the user. The second component is transformed into a CAPTCHA image and then protected using evolution of a two-dimensional dynamical system close to a phase transition, in such a way that standard brute-force attacks become ineffective. We expect our approach to have wide applications for authentication and encryption technologies.

cs.CR↗
arXiv2011

Nonlinear waves in disordered chains: probing the limits of chaos and spreading

We probe the limits of nonlinear wave spreading in disordered chains which are known to localize linear waves. We particularly extend recent studies on the regimes of strong and weak chaos during subdiffusive spreading of wave packets [EPL {\bf 91}, 30001 (2010)] and consider strong disorder, which favors Anderson localization. We probe the limit of infinite disorder strength and study Fröhlich-Spencer-Wayne models. We find that the assumption of chaotic wave packet dynamics and its impact on spreading is in accord with all studied cases. Spreading appears to be asymptotic, without any observable slowing down. We also consider chains with spatially inhomogeneous nonlinearity which give further support to our findings and conclusions.

nlin.CD↗
arXiv2011

Wave interactions in localizing media - a coin with many faces

A variety of heterogeneous potentials are capable of localizing linear non-interacting waves. In this work, we review different examples of heterogeneous localizing potentials which were realized in experiments. We then discuss the impact of nonlinearity induced by wave interactions, in particular its destructive effect on the localizing properties of the heterogeneous potentials.

nlin.CD↗
arXiv2010

Anomalous conductivity: impact of nonlinearity and disorder

We reveal the intricate impact of nonlinearity and disorder on the thermal conductivity of acoustic chains. Disorder induces mobility edges and allows to control the amount of extended modes which are the ballistic channels for energy transport. Nonlinearity adds a diffusive conductivity channel through interacting localized modes, and controls the contact resistance at the edges. Analytical arguments and numerical results yield several crossovers between dominating heat channels, when varying the system size and the temperature. We demonstrate that the nonlinearity-induced interaction between the modes alters the transport through existing conductivity channels and creates new ones, underpinning the observed phenomena.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗
arXiv2010

Statistics of wave interactions in nonlinear disordered systems

We study the properties of mode-mode interactions for waves propagating in nonlinear disordered one-dimensional systems. We focus on i) the localization volume of a mode which defines the number of interacting partner modes, ii) the overlap integrals which determine the interaction strength, iii) the average spacing between eigenvalues of interacting modes, which sets a scale for the nonlinearity strength, and iv) resonance probabilities of interacting modes. Our results are discussed in the light of recent studies on spreading of wave packets in disordered nonlinear systems, and are related to the quantum many body problem in a random chain.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗
arXiv2010

The crossover from strong to weak chaos for nonlinear waves in disordered systems

We observe a crossover from strong to weak chaos in the spatiotemporal evolution of multiple site excitations within disordered chains with cubic nonlinearity. Recent studies have shown that Anderson localization is destroyed, and the wave packet spreading is characterized by an asymptotic divergence of the second moment $m_2$ in time (as $t^{1/3}$), due to weak chaos. In the present paper, we observe the existence of a qualitatively new dynamical regime of strong chaos, in which the second moment spreads even faster (as $t^{1/2}$), with a crossover to the asymptotic law of weak chaos at larger times. We analyze the pecularities of these spreading regimes and perform extensive numerical simulations over large times with ensemble averaging. A technique of local derivatives on logarithmic scales is developed in order to quantitatively visualize the slow crossover processes.

nlin.CD↗
arXiv2010

Spreading of wave packets in disordered systems with tunable nonlinearity

We study the spreading of single-site excitations in one-dimensional disordered Klein-Gordon chains with tunable nonlinearity $|u_{l}|^σ u_{l}$ for different values of $σ$. We perform extensive numerical simulations where wave packets are evolved a) without and, b) with dephasing in normal mode space. Subdiffusive spreading is observed with the second moment of wave packets growing as $t^α$. The dependence of the numerically computed exponent $α$ on $σ$ is in very good agreement with our theoretical predictions both for the evolution of the wave packet with and without dephasing (for $σ\geq 2$ in the latter case). We discuss evidence of the existence of a regime of strong chaos, and observe destruction of Anderson localization in the packet tails for small values of $σ$.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗
arXiv2010

Comment on "Coherent Ratchets in Driven Bose-Einstein Condensates"

C. E. Creffield and F. Sols (Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 200601 (2009)) recently reported finite, directed time-averaged ratchet current, for a noninteracting quantum particle in a periodic potential even when time-reversal symmetry holds. As we explain in this Comment, this result is incorrect, that is, time-reversal symmetry implies a vanishing current.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗
arXiv2010

Spreading of waves in nonlinear disordered media

We analyze mechanisms and regimes of wave packet spreading in nonlinear disordered media. We predict that wave packets can spread in two regimes of strong and weak chaos. We discuss resonance probabilities, nonlinear diffusion equations, and predict a dynamical crossover from strong to weak chaos. The crossover is controlled by the ratio of nonlinear frequency shifts and the average eigenvalue spacing of eigenstates of the linear equations within one localization volume. We consider generalized models in higher lattice dimensions and obtain critical values for the nonlinearity power, the dimension, and norm density, which influence possible dynamical outcomes in a qualitative way.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗