A single-particle mobility edge (SPME) marks a critical energy separating extended from localized states in a quantum system. In one-dimensional systems with uncorrelated disorder, a SPME cannot exist, since all single-particle states localize for arbitrarily weak disorder strengths. However, if correlations are present in the disorder potential, the localization transition can occur at a finite disorder strength and SPMEs become possible. In this work, we find experimental evidence for the existence of such a SPME in a one-dimensional quasi-periodic optical lattice. Specifically, we find a regime where extended and localized single-particle states coexist, in good agreement with theoretical simulations, which predict a SPME in this regime.
We introduce a self-consistent theory of mobility edges in nearest-neighbour tight-binding chains with quasiperiodic potentials. Demarcating boundaries between localised and extended states in the space of system parameters and energy, mobility edges are generic in quasiperiodic systems which lack the energy-independent self-duality of the commonly studied Aubry-André-Harper model. The potentials in such systems are strongly and infinite-range correlated, reflecting their deterministic nature and rendering the problem distinct from that of disordered systems. Importantly, the underlying theore…
Mobility edges, separating localized from extended states, are known to arise in the single-particle energy spectrum of disordered systems in dimension strictly higher than two and certain quasiperiodic models in one dimension. Here we unveil a different class of mobility edges, dubbed anomalous mobility edges, that separate bands of localized states from bands of critical states in diagonal and off-diagonal quasiperiodic models. We first introduce an exactly solvable quasi-periodic diagonal model and analytically demonstrate the existence of anomalous mobility edges. Moreover, numerical multi…
We study the stability of the topological phase in one-dimensional Su-Schrieffer-Heeger chain subject to the quasiperiodic hopping disorder. We investigate two different hopping disorder configurations, one is the Aubry-André quasiperiodic disorder without mobility edges and the other is the slowly varying quasiperiodic disorder with mobility edges. With the increment of the quasiperiodic disorder strength, the topological phase of the system transitions to a topologically trivial phase. Interestingly, we find the occurrence of the topological phase transition at the critical disorder strength…
In this paper, we study a one-dimensional tight-binding model with tunable incommensurate potentials. Through the analysis of the inverse participation rate, we uncover that the wave functions corresponding to the energies of the system exhibit different properties. There exists a critical energy under which the wave functions corresponding to all energies are extended. On the contrary, the wave functions corresponding to all energies above the critical energy are localized. However, we are surprised to find that the critical energy is a constant independent of the potentials. We use the self-…
Quasiperiodic systems serve as fertile ground for studying localisation, due to their propensity already in one dimension to exhibit rich phase diagrams with mobility edges. The deterministic and strongly-correlated nature of the quasiperiodic potential nevertheless offers challenges distinct from disordered systems. Motivated by this, we present a theory of localisation in quasiperiodic chains with nearest-neighbour hoppings, based on the convergence of local propagators; exploiting the fact that the imaginary part of the associated self-energy acts as a probabilistic order parameter for loca…
Systems with quasiperiodic disorder are known to exhibit localization transition in low dimension. After a critical strength of disorder all the states of the system become localized, thereby ceasing the particle motion in the system. However, in our analysis we show that in a one dimensional dimerized lattice with staggered quasiperiodic disorder, after the localization transition some of the localized eigenstates become extended for a range of intermediate disorder strengths. Eventually, the system undergoes a second localization transition at a higher disorder strength leading to all states…
In this work, we investigate the Anderson localization problems of the generalized Aubry-André model (Ganeshan-Pixley-Das Sarma's model) with an unbounded quasi-periodic potential where the parameter $|α|\geq1$. The Lyapunov exponent $γ(E)$ and the mobility edges $E_c$ are exactly obtained for the unbounded quasi-periodic potential. With the Lyapunov exponent, we find that there exists a critical region in the parameter $λ-E$ plane. The critical region consists of critical states. In comparison with localized and extended states, the fluctuation of spatial extensions of the critical states is …
We find that quasiperiodicity-induced transitions between extended and localized phases in generic 1D systems are associated with hidden dualities that generalize the well-known duality of the Aubry-André model. These spectral and eigenstate dualities are locally defined near the transition and can, in many cases, be explicitly constructed by considering relatively small commensurate approximants. The construction relies on auxiliary 2D Fermi surfaces obtained as functions of the phase-twisting boundary conditions and of the phase-shifting real-space structure. We show that, around the critica…
Quasiperiodic systems offer an appealing intermediate between long-range ordered and genuine disordered systems, with unusual critical properties. One-dimensional models that break the so-called self-dual symmetry usually display a mobility edge, similarly as truly disordered systems in dimension strictly higher than two. Here, we determine the critical localization properties of single particles in shallow, one-dimensional, quasiperiodic models and relate them to the fractal character of the energy spectrum. On the one hand, we determine the mobility edge and show that it separates the locali…
We experimentally study many-body localization (MBL) with ultracold atoms in a weak one-dimensional quasiperiodic potential, which in the noninteracting limit exhibits an intermediate phase that is characterized by a mobility edge. We measure the time evolution of an initial charge density wave after a quench and analyze the corresponding relaxation exponents. We find clear signatures of MBL, when the corresponding noninteracting model is deep in the localized phase. We also critically compare and contrast our results with those from a tight-binding Aubry-André model, which does not exhibit a …
We study a one-dimensional lattice model subject to non-Hermitian quasiperiodic potentials. Firstly, we strictly demonstrate that there exists an interesting dual mapping relation between $|a|<1$ and $|a|>1$ with regard to the potential tuning parameter $a$. The localization property of $|a|<1$ can be directly mapping to that of $|a|>1$, the analytical expression of the mobility edge of $|a|>1$ is therefore obtained through spectral properties of $|a|<1$. More impressive, we prove rigorously that even if the phase $θ\neq 0$ in quasiperiodic potentials, the model becomes non-$\mathcal{PT}$ symm…
We introduce a two-dimensional generalisation of the quasiperiodic Aubry-André model. Even though this model exhibits the same duality relation as the one-dimensional version, its localisation properties are found to be substantially more complex. In particular, partially extended single-particle states appear for arbitrarily strong quasiperiodic modulation. They are concentrated on a network of low-disorder lattice lines, while the rest of the lattice hosts localised states. This spatial separation protects the localised states from delocalisation, so no mobility edge emerges in the spectrum.…
We introduce and explore a family of self-dual models of single-particle motion in quasiperiodic potentials, with hopping amplitudes that fall off as a power law with exponent $p$. These models are generalizations of the familiar Aubry-Andre model. For large enough $p$, their static properties are similar to those of the Aubry-Andre model, although the low-frequency conductivity in the localized phase is sensitive to $p$. For $p \leq 2.1$ the Aubry-Andre localization transition splits into three transitions; two distinct intermediate regimes with both localized and delocalized states appear ne…
Using synthetic lattices of laser-coupled atomic momentum modes, we experimentally realize a recently proposed family of nearest-neighbor tight-binding models having quasiperiodic site energy modulation that host an exact mobility edge protected by a duality symmetry. These one-dimensional tight-binding models can be viewed as a generalization of the well-known Aubry-André (AA) model, with an energy-dependent self duality condition that constitutes an analytical mobility edge relation. By adiabatically preparing the lowest and highest energy eigenstates of this model system and performing micr…
We investigate the zero-temperature metal-insulator transition in a one-dimensional two-component Fermi gas in the presence of a quasi-periodic potential resulting from the superposition of two optical lattices of equal intensity but incommensurate periods. A mobility edge separating (low energy) Anderson localized and (high energy) extended single-particle states appears in this continuous-space model beyond a critical intensity of the quasi-periodic potential. In order to discern the metallic phase from the insulating phase in the interacting many-fermion system, we employ unbiased quantum M…
