Jeffrey H. Schenker

Moment analysis for localization in random Schrödinger operators

We study localization effects of disorder on the spectral and dynamical properties of Schrödinger operators with random potentials. The new results include exponentially decaying bounds on the transition amplitude and related projection kernels, including in the mean. These are derived through the analysis of fractional moments of the resolvent, which are finite due to the resonance-diffusing effects of the disorder. The main difficulty which has up to now prevented an extension of this method to the continuum can be traced to the lack of a uniform bound on the Lifshitz-Krein spectral shift associated with the local potential terms. The difficulty is avoided here through the use of a weak-L1 estimate concerning the boundary-value distribution of resolvents of maximally dissipative operators, combined with standard tools of relative compactness theory.

Finite-Volume Fractional-Moment Criteria¶for Anderson Localization

Abstract: A technically convenient signature of localization, exhibited by discrete operators with random potentials, is exponential decay of the fractional moments of the Green function within the appropriate energy ranges. Known implications include: spectral localization, absence of level repulsion, strong form of dynamical localization, and a related condition which plays a significant role in the quantization of the Hall conductance in two-dimensional Fermi gases. We present a family of finite-volume criteria which, under some mild restrictions on the distribution of the potential, cover the regime where the fractional moment decay condition holds. The constructive criteria permit to establish this condition at spectral band edges, provided there are sufficient “Lifshitz tail estimates” on the density of states. They are also used here to conclude that the fractional moment condition, and thus the other manifestations of localization, are valid throughout the regime covered by the “multiscale analysis”. In the converse direction, the analysis rules out fast power-law decay of the Green functions at mobility edges.

Linear response theory for magnetic Schrödinger operators in disordered media

Abstract We justify the linear response theory for an ergodic Schrodinger operator with magnetic field within the noninteracting particle approximation, and derive a Kubo formula for the electric conductivity tensor. To achieve that, we construct suitable normed spaces of measurable covariant operators where the Liouville equation can be solved uniquely. If the Fermi level falls into a region of localization, we recover the well-known Kubo–Str˘eda formula for the quantum Hall conductivity at zero temperature.

The Creation of Spectral Gaps by Graph Decoration

We present a mechanism for the creation of gaps in the spectra of self-adjoint operators defined over a Hilbert space of functions on a graph, which is based on the process of graph decoration. The resulting Hamiltonians can be viewed as associated with discrete models exhibiting a repeated local structure and a certain bottleneck in the hopping amplitudes.

Equality of the Bulk and Edge Hall Conductances in a Mobility Gap

We consider the edge and bulk conductances for 2D quantum Hall systems in which the Fermi energy falls in a band where bulk states are localized. We show that the resulting quantities are equal, when appropriately defined. An appropriate definition of the edge conductance may be obtained through a suitable time averaging procedure or by including a contribution from states in the localized band. In a further result on the Harper Hamiltonian, we show that this contribution is essential. In an appendix we establish quantized plateaus for the conductance of systems which need not be translation ergodic.

Spectral Theory of Time Dispersive and Dissipative Systems

We study linear time dispersive and dissipative systems. Very often such systems are not conservative and the standard spectral theory can not be applied. We develop a mathematically consistent framework allowing (i) to constructively determine if a given time dispersive system can be extended to a conservative one; (ii) to construct that very conservative system—which we show is essentially unique. We illustrate the method by applying it to the spectral analysis of time dispersive dielectrics and the damped oscillator with retarded friction. In particular, we obtain a conservative extension of the Maxwell equations which is equivalent to the original Maxwell equations for a dispersive and lossy dielectric medium.

Diffusion of Wave Packets in a Markov Random Potential

We consider the evolution of a tight binding wave packet propagating in a time dependent potential. If the potential evolves according to a stationary Markov process, we show that the square amplitude of the wave packet converges, after diffusive rescaling, to a solution of a heat equation.

Hamiltonian Structure for Dispersive and Dissipative Dynamical Systems

We develop a Hamiltonian theory of a time dispersive and dissipative inhomogeneous medium, as described by a linear response equation respecting causality and power dissipation. The proposed Hamiltonian couples the given system to auxiliary fields, in the universal form of a so-called canonical heat bath. After integrating out the heat bath the original dissipative evolution is exactly reproduced. Furthermore, we show that the dynamics associated to a minimal Hamiltonian are essentially unique, up to a natural class of isomorphisms. Using this formalism, we obtain closed form expressions for the energy density, energy flux, momentum density, and stress tensor involving the auxiliary fields, from which we derive an approximate, “Brillouin-type,” formula for the time averaged energy density and stress tensor associated to an almost mono-chromatic wave.

Constructive fractional-moment criteria for localization in random operators

We present a family of finite-volume criteria which cover the regime of exponential decay for the fractional moments of Green functions of operators with random potentials. Such decay is a technically convenient characterization of localization for it is known to imply spectral localization, absence of level repulsion, dynamical localization and a related condition which plays a significant role in the quantization of the Hall conductance in two-dimensional Fermi gases. The constructive criteria also preclude fast power-law decay of the Green functions at mobility edges.

How Large is Large? Estimating the Critical Disorder for the Anderson Model

Complete localization is shown to hold for the d-dimensional Anderson model with uniformly distributed random potentials provided the disorder strength