Low-Energy Boundary-State Emergence and Delocalization in Finite-sized Mosaic Wannier-Stark Lattices

TL;DR

This paper studies finite-sized mosaic Wannier-Stark lattices, revealing boundary-localized states and their delocalization under non-Hermitian effects, advancing understanding of unconventional localization phenomena in disorder-free systems.

Contribution

It uncovers boundary-localized states in finite systems and analyzes their delocalization behavior under non-Hermitian perturbations, a novel insight into boundary effects in such lattices.

Findings

Boundary states emerge due to boundary residuals in finite systems.

Weakly localized states delocalize smoothly with increasing non-Hermitian strength.

Spectral analysis shows almost pure point spectrum with isolated extended states.

Abstract

The mosaic Wannier Stark lattice has gained increasing prominence as a disorder free system exhibiting unconventional localization behavior induced by spatially periodic Stark potentials. In the infinite size limit, exact spectral analysis reveals an almost pure point spectrum. There is no true mobility edge, except for (M 1) isolated extended states, which are accompanied by weakly localized modes with diverging localization lengths. Motivated by this spectral structure, we investigate the mosaic Wannier Stark model under finite-size. In such systems, additional low energy boundary localized states emerge due to boundary residuals when the system length is not commensurate with the modulation period. These states are effectively distinguished and identified using the inverse participation ratio (IPR) and spatial expectation values. To explore their response to non-Hermitian perturbations, complex on site potentials are introduced to simulate gain and loss. As the non-Hermitian strength increases, only the weakly localized states undergo progressive delocalization, exhibiting a smooth crossover from localization to spatial extension.