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Controlling symmetry and localization with an artificial gauge field in a disordered quantum system
Clément Hainaut1, Isam Manai1, Jean-François Clément1
1CNRS, UMR 8523, Laboratoire de Physique des Lasers Atomes et Molécules, Université de Lille, 59000, Lille, France.
Nature Communications
|April 13, 2018
Summary
Researchers experimentally controlled Anderson localization in disordered quantum systems using an artificial gauge field. This allowed tuning of parity-time symmetry, revealing new insights into localization phenomena and scaling laws.
Area of Science:
- Quantum physics
- Condensed matter physics
- Disordered systems
Background:
- Anderson localization describes the absence of diffusion in disordered media due to destructive interference.
- System symmetries are expected to significantly impact localization properties, but this remains experimentally underexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To experimentally investigate the role of symmetry in Anderson localization.
- To realize and control an artificial gauge field in a synthetic dimension of a disordered quantum system.
Main Methods:
- Implementation of a periodically driven quantum system with a synthetic temporal dimension.
- Tuning of an artificial gauge field to control parity-time symmetry.
- Experimental observation of symmetry-sensitive localization signatures: coherent backscattering and coherent forward scattering.
- Measurement of the β(g) scaling function in different symmetry classes.
Main Results:
- Demonstration of control over parity-time symmetry by tuning the artificial gauge field.
- Observation of coherent backscattering (weak localization) and coherent forward scattering (Anderson localization).
- Measurement and validation of the universality of the β(g) scaling function and the one-parameter scaling hypothesis.
Conclusions:
- The study experimentally links system symmetries to Anderson localization phenomena.
- The findings provide new experimental signatures and validation for theories of localization in disordered systems.
- The developed platform offers a novel approach to explore symmetry effects in quantum dynamics.
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