Dephasing-induced jumps in non-Hermitian disordered lattices

TL;DR

This paper explores how dephasing affects wave localization in non-Hermitian disordered lattices, revealing that dephasing can induce abrupt jumps between distant regions, contrasting with behavior in Hermitian systems.

Contribution

It demonstrates that in weakly disordered non-Hermitian lattices, dephasing enhances localization and causes sudden jumps, a novel phenomenon not observed in purely coherent or Hermitian systems.

Findings

Dephasing leads to diffusion in Hermitian lattices.

In non-Hermitian lattices, dephasing enhances eigenmode localization.

Dephasing causes abrupt jumps between distant regions in non-Hermitian lattices.

Abstract

Changes in the wavefunction's phase during propagation in a random Hermitian lattice, a process known as dephasing, results in diffusion rather than Anderson localization. However, when non-Hermiticity is introduced, the wave behavior changes drastically. In particular, we demonstrate that in weakly disordered non-Hermitian lattices, dephasing enhances eigenmode localization which results in abrupt jumps between spatially distant regions. These jumps, which are absent under purely coherent conditions, emerge from the interplay between complex disorder and dephasing.