Blocking particle dynamics in diamond chain with spatially increasing flux

TL;DR

This study investigates how spatially varying magnetic flux in a diamond-chain tight-binding model causes particle localization and slowed dynamics near pi-flux plaquettes, with potential applications in photonics and cold atom systems.

Contribution

It introduces a novel analysis of particle dynamics in a non-uniform flux diamond chain, revealing localized eigenstates and characteristic slowing effects due to flux modulation.

Findings

Particles slow down near pi-flux plaquettes due to localized eigenstates.

Localized modes can be understood through a squared model of the system.

The observed dynamics are relevant for photonic and cold atom experiments.

Abstract

Spatial non-uniformity in tight-binding models serves as a source of rich phenomena. In this paper, we study a diamond-chain tight-binding model with a spatially-modulated magnetic flux at each plaquette. In the numerical studies with various combinations of the minimum and maximum flux values, we find the characteristic dynamics of a particle, namely, a particle slows down when approaching the plaquette with $\pi$-flux. This originates from the fact that the sharply localized eigenstates exist around the $\pi$-flux plaquette. These localized modes can be understood from a squared model of the original one. This characteristic blocked dynamics will be observed in photonic waveguides or cold atoms.