Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 14, 2026

Fabrication and Characterization of Disordered Polymer Optical Fibers for Transverse Anderson Localization of Light
Published on: July 29, 2013
Enhanced distribution of a wave-packet in lattices with disorder and nonlinearity
Uta Naether1, Santiago Rojas-Rojas, Alejandro J Martínez
1Departamento de Física, MSI-Nucleus on Advanced Optics, and Center for Optics and Photonics (CEFOP), Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
Abstract:
We show, numerically and experimentally, that the presence of weak disorder results in an enhanced energy distribution of an initially localized wave-packet, in one- and two-dimensional finite lattices. The addition of a focusing nonlinearity facilitates the spreading effect even further by increasing the wave-packet effective size. We find a clear transition between the regions of enhanced spreading (weak disorder) and localization (strong disorder).
Related Concept Videos
Bewley Lattice Diagram
The de Broglie Wavelength
Propagation of Waves
Consider a scenario where a wave propagates from a string of low linear mass density to a string of high linear mass density. In such a case, the reflected wave is out of phase with respect to the incident wave, however the...
Interference and Diffraction
Interference and Superposition of Waves
Interference occurs in mechanical waves, such as sound waves, waves on a string, and surface water waves. Mechanical waves correspond to the physical displacement of particles. Hence,...
Distribution and Dispersion

