Quantum simulation of disordered systems with cold atoms

TL;DR

This paper reviews how cold atom experiments with laser kicks simulate quantum disorder and chaos, effectively modeling the Anderson localization phenomenon in a controllable quantum system.

Contribution

It demonstrates that cold atom kicked rotor experiments serve as a precise quantum simulator for Anderson localization and quantum disorder phenomena.

Findings

Cold atom experiments replicate Anderson localization.

Quantum chaos models disorder in a controllable setup.

The kicked rotor maps onto the Anderson model.

Abstract

This paper reviews the physics of quantum disorder in relation with a series of experiments using laser-cooled atoms exposed to "kicks" of a standing wave, realizing a paradigmatic model of quantum chaos, the kicked rotor. This dynamical system can be mapped onto a tight-binding Hamiltonian with pseudo-disorder, formally equivalent to the Anderson model of quantum disorder, with quantum chaos playing the role of disorder. This provides a very good quantum simulator for the Anderson physics.