Localized and extended states in a disordered trap

Luca Pezzé (1) , Laurent Sanchez-Palencia (1)

1 laboratoire Charles Fabry de l'Institut d'Optique / Optique atomique

We study Anderson localization in a disordered potential combined with a harmonic trap. We show that the spectrum displays both localized and extended states, which coexist at intermediate energies. In the region of coexistence, we find that the extended states result from confinement by the trap and are weakly affected by the disorder. Conversely, the localized states correspond to eigenstates of the disordered potential, which are only affected by the trap via an inhomogeneous energy shift. These results are directly relevant to disordered quantum gases and we propose a realistic scheme to observe the coexistence of localized and extended states in these systems.

Keywords: Quantum gases; Ultra-cold; Cold; Disorder; Anderson; Localization; speckle

Domains: Other [cond-mat.other]

Luca Pezzé, Laurent Sanchez-Palencia. Localized and extended states in a disordered trap. 2010. ⟨hal-00493626v2⟩