Bosonic Excitations in Random Media

We consider classical normal modes and non-interacting bosonic excitations in disordered systems. We emphasise generic aspects of such problems and parallels with disordered, non-interacting systems of fermions, and discuss in particular the relevance for bosonic excitations of symmetry classes know...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Gurarie, V, Chalker, J
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: 2003
_version_ 1797088160949207040
author Gurarie, V
Chalker, J
author_facet Gurarie, V
Chalker, J
author_sort Gurarie, V
collection OXFORD
description We consider classical normal modes and non-interacting bosonic excitations in disordered systems. We emphasise generic aspects of such problems and parallels with disordered, non-interacting systems of fermions, and discuss in particular the relevance for bosonic excitations of symmetry classes known in the fermionic context. We also stress important differences between bosonic and fermionic problems. One of these follows from the fact that ground state stability of a system requires all bosonic excitation energy levels to be positive, while stability in systems of non-interacting fermions is ensured by the exclusion principle, whatever the single-particle energies. As a consequence, simple models of uncorrelated disorder are less useful for bosonic systems than for fermionic ones, and it is generally important to study the excitation spectrum in conjunction with the problem of constructing a disorder-dependent ground state: we show how a mapping to an operator with chiral symmetry provides a useful tool for doing this. A second difference involves the distinction for bosonic systems between excitations which are Goldstone modes and those which are not. In the case of Goldstone modes we review established results illustrating the fact that disorder decouples from excitations in the low frequency limit, above a critical dimension $d_c$, which in different circumstances takes the values $d_c=2$ and $d_c=0$. For bosonic excitations which are not Goldstone modes, we argue that an excitation density varying with frequency as $\rho(\omega) \propto \omega^4$ is a universal feature in systems with ground states that depend on the disorder realisation. We illustrate our conclusions with extensive analytical and some numerical calculations for a variety of models in one dimension.
first_indexed 2024-03-07T02:45:59Z
format Journal article
id oxford-uuid:ac18247a-964e-410d-b421-27979fae1ade
institution University of Oxford
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-07T02:45:59Z
publishDate 2003
record_format dspace
spelling oxford-uuid:ac18247a-964e-410d-b421-27979fae1ade2022-03-27T03:26:16ZBosonic Excitations in Random MediaJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:ac18247a-964e-410d-b421-27979fae1adeEnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford2003Gurarie, VChalker, JWe consider classical normal modes and non-interacting bosonic excitations in disordered systems. We emphasise generic aspects of such problems and parallels with disordered, non-interacting systems of fermions, and discuss in particular the relevance for bosonic excitations of symmetry classes known in the fermionic context. We also stress important differences between bosonic and fermionic problems. One of these follows from the fact that ground state stability of a system requires all bosonic excitation energy levels to be positive, while stability in systems of non-interacting fermions is ensured by the exclusion principle, whatever the single-particle energies. As a consequence, simple models of uncorrelated disorder are less useful for bosonic systems than for fermionic ones, and it is generally important to study the excitation spectrum in conjunction with the problem of constructing a disorder-dependent ground state: we show how a mapping to an operator with chiral symmetry provides a useful tool for doing this. A second difference involves the distinction for bosonic systems between excitations which are Goldstone modes and those which are not. In the case of Goldstone modes we review established results illustrating the fact that disorder decouples from excitations in the low frequency limit, above a critical dimension $d_c$, which in different circumstances takes the values $d_c=2$ and $d_c=0$. For bosonic excitations which are not Goldstone modes, we argue that an excitation density varying with frequency as $\rho(\omega) \propto \omega^4$ is a universal feature in systems with ground states that depend on the disorder realisation. We illustrate our conclusions with extensive analytical and some numerical calculations for a variety of models in one dimension.
spellingShingle Gurarie, V
Chalker, J
Bosonic Excitations in Random Media
title Bosonic Excitations in Random Media
title_full Bosonic Excitations in Random Media
title_fullStr Bosonic Excitations in Random Media
title_full_unstemmed Bosonic Excitations in Random Media
title_short Bosonic Excitations in Random Media
title_sort bosonic excitations in random media
work_keys_str_mv AT gurariev bosonicexcitationsinrandommedia
AT chalkerj bosonicexcitationsinrandommedia