Talks

Title: Propagation of waves in high Brillouin zones: Chaotic branched flow and stable superwires.

Speaker: Alvar Daza

Duration: 65 min.

Abstract: We report unexpected classical and quantum dynamics of a wave propagating in a periodic potential in high Brillouin zones. Branched flow appears at wavelengths shorter than the typical length scale of the ordered periodic structure and for energies above the potential barrier. The strongest branches remain stable indefinitely and may create linear dynamical channels, wherein waves are not confined directly by potential walls as electrons in ordinary wires but rather, indirectly, and more subtly by dynamical stability. We term these superwires since they are associated with a superlattice.

Waves propagating through random media can accumulate in strong branches, intensifying fluctuations and powerful phenomena such as tsunamis. However, branched flow is not restricted to the large scale, and here, we find surprisingly that branched flow is not restricted to random media. We show that quantum waves living in the high Brillouin zones of periodic potentials also branch. Moreover, some of these branches do not decay as in random media but remain robust indefinitely, creating dynamically stable channels that we call superwires. The waves in these stable branches have enough energy to surmount the channel potential and go elsewhere, but classically, nonlinear dynamics keeps them confined within the channel. These results have direct experimental consequences for superlattices and optical systems.

Title: Branched Flow and Applications

Speaker: Eric J. Heller

Duration: 58 min.

Abstract: In classical and quantum phase space flow, there exists a regime of great physical relevance that is belatedly but rapidly generating a new field. In evolution under smooth, random, weakly deflecting but persistent perturbations, a remarkable regime develops, called branched flow. Lying between the first cusp catastrophes at the outset, leading to fully chaotic statistical flow much later, lies the visually beautiful regime of branched flow.

It applies to tsunami wave propagation, freak wave formation, light propagation, cosmic microwaves arriving from pulsars, electron flow in metals and devices, sound propagation in the atmosphere and oceans, the large scale structure of the universe, and much more. The mathematical structure of this flow is only partially understood, involving exponential instability coexisting with "accidental" stability. The flow is qualitatively universal, but this has not been quantified. Many questions arise, including the scale(s) of the random medium, and the time evolution of manifolds and "fuzzy" manifolds in phase space. The classical-quantum (ray-wave) correspondence in this flow is only partially understood. This talk will be an introduction to the phenomenon, both visual and mathematical, emphasizing unanswered questions