Dresden 2009 – scientific programme

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SYAL: Symposium Anderson Localization in Nonlinear and Many-Body Systems

SYAL 1: Anderson Localization in Nonlinear and Many-Body Systems

SYAL 1.3: Invited Talk

Monday, March 23, 2009, 15:00–15:30, BAR SCHÖ

Anderson localization and nonlinearity in disordered photonic lattices — •Yaron Silberberg — Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel

Arrays of optical waveguides are excellent systems to study wave phenomena in periodic and disordered media. We experimentally investigate the evolution of linear and nonlinear waves in a realization of the Anderson model using disordered one-dimensional waveguide lattices. Two types of localized eigenmodes, flat-phased and staggered, are directly measured. Nonlinear perturbations enhance localization in one type and induce delocalization in the other. We studied the evolution of wave packets in the presence of disorder, and observed the transition from ballistic wave packet expansion to exponential (Anderson) localization and how nonlinearity affects it. We also realized the quasi-periodic structure known as the Aubry-Andre model, observed the unique localization phase transition in this system and studied the effect of nonlinearity on it.