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Chaos in the honeycomb optical-lattice unit cell
1Center for Complex Quantum Systems and Department of Physics, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA.
Physical Review. E
|February 13, 2016
Summary
Honeycomb lattices, found in graphene and engineered materials, exhibit unique Dirac points. Gases within these lattices display chaotic dynamics, offering insights into thermalization and conductor-insulator transitions.
Area of Science:
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Quantum Mechanics
- Materials Science
Background:
- Honeycomb lattices, including graphene and carbon nanotubes, possess unique band structures with Dirac points.
- These structures are replicated in laboratories using semiconductor 2DEGs, optical lattices, and photonic crystals.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the behavior of gases (electrons, atoms, photons) propagating through honeycomb lattices.
- To explore the implications of this behavior for condensed matter phenomena.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of gas propagation through natural and artificial honeycomb lattices.
- Characterization of classical dynamics and band structure properties.
Main Results:
- Gases in honeycomb lattices behave as Lorentz gases over a broad energy range.
- The classical dynamics of these gases are shown to be chaotic.
Conclusions:
- Honeycomb lattices provide a platform for studying chaotic dynamics and eigenstate thermalization.
- These findings are relevant to understanding the conductor-insulator transition via dynamic Anderson localization.
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