1302.5465 (Lu Zhou et al.)

Anderson Localization of cold atomic gases with effective spin-orbit
interaction in a quasiperiodic optical lattice    [PDF]

Lu Zhou, Han Pu, Weiping Zhang

We theoretically investigate the localization properties of a spin-orbit coupled spin-1/2 particle moving in a one-dimensional quasiperiodic potential, which can be experimentally implemented using cold atoms trapped in a quasiperiodic optical lattice potential and external laser fields. We present the phase diagram in the parameter space of the disorder strength and those related to the spin-orbit coupling. The phase diagram is verified via multifractal analysis of the atomic wavefunctions and the numerical simulation of diffusion dynamics. We found that spin-orbit coupling can lead to the spectra mixing (coexistence of extended and localized states) and the appearance of mobility edges.

View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1302.5465