Steady-state thermoelectric machines convert heat into work by driving a thermally-generated charge current against a voltage gradient. In this work, we propose a new class of steady-state heat engines operating in the quantum regime, where a quasi-periodic tight-binding model that features a mobility edge forms the working medium. In particular, we focus on a generalization of the paradigmatic Aubrey-André-Harper (AAH) model, known to display a single-particle mobility edge that separates the energy spectrum into regions of completely delocalized and localized eigenstates. Remarkably, these two regions can be exploited in the context of steady-state heat engines as they correspond to ballistic and insulating transport regimes. This model also presents the advantage that the position of the mobility edge can be controlled via a single parameter in the Hamiltonian. We exploit this highly tunable energy filter, along with the peculiar spectral structure of quasiperiodic systems, to demonstrate large thermoelectric effects, exceeding existing predictions by several orders of magnitude. This opens the route to a new class of highly efficient and versatile quasi-periodic steady-state heat engines, with a possible implementation using ultracold neutral atoms in bichromatic optical lattices.
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 investigate localization properties in a two-coupled uniform chains with quasiperiodic modulation on interchain coupling strength. We demonstrate that this ladder is equivalent to a Aubry-Andre (AA) chain when two legs are symmetric. Analytical and numerical results indicate the appearance of mobility edges for asymmetric ladder. We also propose an easily engineered quasiperiodic ladder system which is a moiré superlattice system consisting of two-coupled uniform chains. An irrational lattice constant difference results in quasiperiodic structure. Numerical simulations show that such a syst…
We aim to study a one-dimensional $p$-wave superconductor with quasiperiodic on-site potentials. A modified real-space-Pfaffian method is applied to calculate the topological invariants. We confirm that the Majorana zero mode is protected by the nontrivial topology the topological phase transition is accompanied by the energy gap closing and reopening. In addition, we numerically find that there are mobility edges which originate from the competition between the extended $p$-wave pairing and the localized quasi-disorder. We qualitatively analyze the influence of superconducting pairing paramet…
Engineering exact mobility edges in quasiperiodic Aharonov-Bohm chains
Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院精密测量科学与技术创新研究院）；University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学）
Within the framework of the Aubry-Andre model, one kind of self-dual quasiperiodic lattice, it is known that a sharp transition occurs from \emph{all} eigenstates being extended to \emph{all} being localized. The common perception for this type of quasiperiodic lattice is that the self-duality excludes the appearance of the mobility edge separating localized from extended states. In this work, we propose a multi-chromatic quasiperiodic lattice model retaining the self-duality identical to the Aubry-Andre model, and demonstrate numerically the occurrence of the localization-delocalization trans…
Anomalous mobility edges and extended-localized transition in a quasiperiodic emitter-cavity array
School of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering & Institute of Theoretical Physics, Ludong University（鲁东大学物理与光电工程学院暨理论物理研究所）；Center for Quantum Sciences, Northeast Normal University（东北师范大学量子科学中心）
We investigate and map out the non-equilibrium phase diagram of a generalization of the well known Aubry-André-Harper (AAH) model. This generalized AAH (GAAH) model is known to have a single-particle mobility edge which also has an additional self-dual property akin to that of the critical point of AAH model. By calculating the imbalance, we get hints of a rich phase diagram. We find a fascinating connection between single particle wavefunctions near the mobility edge of GAAH model and the wavefunctions of the critical AAH model. By placing this model far-from-equilibrium with the aid of two b…
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 re…
Quantum localization in 1D non-Hermitian systems, especially the search for exact single-particle mobility edges, has attracted considerable interest recently. While much progress has been made, the available methods to determine the ME of such models are still limited. In this work, we propose a new method to determine the exact mobility edge in a large class of 1D non-Hermitian quasiperiodic models with parity-time ($\mathcal{PT}$) symmetry. We illustrate our method by studying a specific model. We first use our method to determine the energy-dependent mobility edge as well as the spectrum f…
We study if periodic driving of a model with a quasiperiodic potential can generate interesting Floquet phases which have no counterparts in the static model. Specifically, we consider the Aubry-André model which is a one-dimensional time-independent model with an on-site quasiperiodic potential $V_0$ and a nearest-neighbor hopping amplitude which is taken to have a staggered form. We add a uniform hopping amplitude which varies periodically in time with a frequency $ω$. Unlike the static Aubry-André model which has a simple phase diagram with only two phases (only extended or only localized s…
Entanglement growth and information capacity in a quasiperiodic system with a single-particle mobility edge
Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院物理研究所）；Tsung-Dao Lee Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University（上海交通大学李政道研究所）；Graduate School of China Academy of Engineering Physics（中国工程物理研究院研究生院）
We study a one-dimensional system that includes both a commensurate off-diagonal modulation of the hopping amplitude and an incommensurate, slowly varying diagonal on-site modulation. By using asymptotic heuristic arguments, we identify four closed form expressions for the mobility edges. We further study numerically the inverse participation ratio, the density of states and the Lyapunov exponent. The numerical results are in exact agreement with our theoretical predictions. Besides a metal-insulator transition driven by the strength of the slowly varying potential, another four insulator-meta…
The mobility edges (MEs) in energy which separate extended and localized states are a central concept in understanding the localization physics. In one-dimensional (1D) quasiperiodic systems, while MEs may exist for certain cases, the analytic results which allow for an exact understanding are rare. Here we uncover a class of exactly solvable 1D models with MEs in the spectra, where quasiperiodic on-site potentials are inlaid in the lattice with equally spaced sites. The analytical solutions provide the exact results not only for the MEs, but also for the localization and extended features of …
We uncover the relationship of topology and disorder in a one-dimensional Su-Schrieffer-Heeger chain subjected to a slowly varying quasi-periodic modulation. By numerically calculating the disorder-averaged winding number and analytically studying the localization length of the zero modes, we obtain the topological phase diagram, which implies that the topological Anderson insulator (TAI) can be induced by a slowly varying quasi-periodic modulation. Moreover, unlike the localization properties in the TAI phase caused by random disorder, mobility edges can enter into the TAI region identified b…
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-…
We study a one-dimensional quasiperiodic system described by the Aubry-André model in the small wave vector limit and demonstrate the existence of almost mobility edges and critical regions in the system. It is well known that the eigenstates of the Aubry-André model are either extended or localized depending on the strength of incommensurate potential $V$ being less or bigger than a critical value $V_c$, and thus no mobility edge exists. However, it was shown in a recent work that this conclusion does not hold true when the wave vector $α$ of the incommensurate potential is small, and for the…
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…
We investigate localization-delocalization transition in one-dimensional non-Hermitian quasiperiodic lattices with exponential short-range hopping, which possess parity-time ($\mathcal{PT}$) symmetry. The localization transition induced by the non-Hermitian quasiperiodic potential is found to occur at the $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetry-breaking point. Our results also demonstrate the existence of energy dependent mobility edges, which separate the extended states from localized states and are only associated with the real part of eigen-energies. The level statistics and Loschmidt echo dynamics are al…
In one dimension, noninteracting particles can undergo a localization-delocalization transition in a quasiperiodic potential. Recent studies have suggested that this transition transforms into a many-body localization (MBL) transition upon the introduction of interactions. It has also been shown that mobility edges can appear in the single particle spectrum for certain types of quasiperiodic potentials. Here, we investigate the effect of interactions in two models with such mobility edges. Employing the technique of exact diagonalization for finite-sized systems, we calculate the level spacing…
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 …
Anomalous transport in quasiperiodic lattices: emergent exceptional points at band edges and log-periodic oscillations
Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院物理研究所凝聚态物理国家实验室）；School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学物理科学学院）
We show that a discrete tight-binding model representing either a random or a quasiperiodic array of bonds, can have the entire energy spectrum or a substantial part of it absolutely continuous, populated by extended eigenfunctions only, when atomic sites are coupled to the lattice locally, or non-locally from one side. The event can be fine-tuned by controlling only the host-adatom coupling in one case, while in two other cases cited here an additional external magnetic field is necessary. The delocalization of electronic states for the group of systems presented here is sensitive to a subtle…
Double stranded quasiperiodic copper mean arrangement has been studied in respect of their electronic property and thermoelectric signature. The two-arm network is demonstrated by a tight binding Hamiltonian. The eigenspectrum of such aperiodic mesh that does not convey translational invariance, is significantly dependent on the parameters of the Hamiltonian. It is observed that specific correlation between the parameters obtained from the commutation relation between the on-site energy and overlap integral matrices can eventually modify the spectral nature and generate absolutely continuous e…
A generalization of the Aubry-Andre model in two and three dimensions is introduced which allows for quasiperiodic hopping terms in addition to the quasiperiodic site potentials. This corresponds to an array of interstitial impurities within the periodic host crystal. The resulting model is exactly solvable and I compute the density of states and the ac-conductivity. There is no mobility edge as in completely disordered systems but the regular ac-conductivity and the strongly reduced Drude weight indicate a precursor of the Anderson transition as the Fermi energy goes from the center to the ba…
We investigate localization properties in a family of deterministic (i.e. no disorder) nearest neighbor tight binding models with quasiperiodic onsite modulation. We prove that this family is self-dual under a generalized duality transformation. The self-dual condition for this general model turns out to be a simple closed form function of the model parameters and energy. We introduce the typical density of states as an order parameter for localization in quasiperiodic systems. By direct calculations of the inverse participation ratio and the typical density of states we numerically verify tha…
We study the localization transitions for coupled one-dimensional lattices with quasiperiodic potential. Besides the localized and extended phases there is an intermediate mixed phase which can be easily explained decoupling the system so as to deal with effective uncoupled Aubry-André chains with different transition points. We clarify, therefore, the origin of such an intermediate phase finding the conditions for getting a uniquely defined mobility edge for such coupled systems. Finally we consider many coupled chains with an energy shift which compose an extension of the Aubry-André model i…
We propose a general analytic method to study the localization transition in one-dimensional quasicrystals with parity-time ($\mathcal{PT}$) symmetry, described by complex quasiperiodic mosaic lattice models. By applying Avila's global theory of quasiperiodic Schrödinger operators, we obtain exact mobility edges and prove that the mobility edge is identical to the boundary of $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetry breaking, which also proves the existence of correspondence between extended (localized) states and $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetry ($\mathcal{PT}$-symmetry-broken) states. Furthermore, we generalize the m…
The fundamental localization phases in quasiperiodic systems: A unified framework and exact results
International Center for Quantum Materials and School of Physics, Peking University（北京大学量子材料科学中心与物理学院）；Hefei National Laboratory（合肥国家实验室）；School of Mathematics and Statistics, Nanjing University of Science and Technology（南京理工大学数学与统计学院）；Shenzhen Institute for Quantum Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology（南方科技大学深圳量子科学与工程学院）；International Quantum Academy（国际量子科学院）；Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Quantum Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology（南方科技大学广东省量子科学与工程重点实验室）；Chern Institute of Mathematics and LPMC, Nankai University（南开大学陈省身数学研究所与理论力学研究中心）
Spread complexity as a probe in generalized and long-range Aubry-Andre-Harper models
Harish-Chandra Research Institute（哈里什-钱德拉研究所）；Homi Bhabha National Institute（霍米·巴哈国立研究所）；Instytut Fizyki Teoretycznej, Wydział Fizyki, Astronomii i Informatyki Stosowanej, Uniwersytet Jagielloński（雅盖隆大学物理、天文学与应用信息学院理论物理研究所）
