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The Journal of Chemical Physics

Critical exponents for Anderson localization

Tsun-Mei Chang, J. D. Bauer, James L. Skinner

Published Dec 15, 1990• 47 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We perform numerical calculations on a simple cubic lattice for a standard diagonally disordered tight-binding Hamiltonian, whose random site energies are chosen from a Gaussian distribution with variance ∑2. From phenomenological renormalization group studies of the localization length, we determine that the critical disorder is σc≡∑c/J=6.00±0.17, which is in good agreement with previous results (J is the nearest neighbor transfer matrix element). From our calculations we can also determine the mobility edge trajectory, which appears to be analytic at the band center. Defining an order parameter exponent β, which determines how the fraction of extended states vanishes as the critical point is approached from below, this implies that β=1/2, in agreement with a previous study. From a finite-size scaling analysis we find that π2/ν=1.43±0.10, where π2 and ν are the inverse participation ratio and localization length critical exponents, respectively. This ratio of exponents can also be interpreted as the fractal dimension (also called the correlation dimension) D2 of the critical wave functions. Generalizations of the inverse participation ratio lead to a whole set of critical exponents πk, and corresponding generalized fractal dimensions Dk=πk/ν(k−1). From finite-size scaling results we find that D3=1.08±0.10 and D4=0.87±0.09. The inequality of the three dimensions D2, D3, and D4 shows that the critical wave functions have a multifractal structure. Using a generalized phenomenological renormalization technique on the participation ratios, we find that ν=0.99±0.04. This result is in agreement with experiments on compensated or amorphous doped semiconductors.

DOI
10.1063/1.459237

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We perform numerical calculations on a simple cubic lattice for a standard diagonally disordered tight-binding Hamiltonian, whose random site energies are chosen from a Gaussian distribution with variance ∑2. From phenomenological renormalization group studies of the localization length, we determine that the critical disorder is σc≡∑c/J=6.00±0.17, which is in good agreement with previous results (J is the nearest neighbor transfer matrix element). From our calculations we can also determine the mobility edge trajectory, which appears to be analytic at the band center. Defining an order parameter exponent β, which determines how the fraction of extended states vanishes as the critical point is approached from below, this implies that β=1/2, in agreement with a previous study. From a finite-size scaling analysis we find that π2/ν=1.43±0.10, where π2 and ν are the inverse participation ratio and localization length critical exponents, respectively. This ratio of exponents can also be interpreted as the fractal dimension (also called the correlation dimension) D2 of the critical wave functions. Generalizations of the inverse participation ratio lead to a whole set of critical exponents πk, and corresponding generalized fractal dimensions Dk=πk/ν(k−1). From finite-size scaling results we find that D3=1.08±0.10 and D4=0.87±0.09. The inequality of the three dimensions D2, D3, and D4 shows that the critical wave functions have a multifractal structure. Using a generalized phenomenological renormalization technique on the participation ratios, we find that ν=0.99±0.04. This result is in agreement with experiments on compensated or amorphous doped semiconductors.
For Anderson localization models, there exists an exact real-space renormalization procedure at fixed energy which preserves the Green's functions of the remaining sites [H. Aoki, J. Phys. C 13, 3369 (1980)]. Using this procedure for the Anderson tight-binding model in dimensions d=2,3d=2,3d=2,3, we study numerically the statistical properties of the renormalized on-site energies ϵϵϵ and of the renormalized hoppings VVV as a function of the linear size LLL. We find that the renormalized on-site energies ϵϵϵ remain finite in the localized phase in d=2,3d=2,3d=2,3 and at criticality (d=3)(d=3)(d=3), with a finite density at ϵ=0ϵ=0ϵ=0 and a power-law decay 1/ϵ21/{ϵ}^{2}1/ϵ2 at large ∣ϵ∣|ϵ|∣ϵ∣. For the renormalized hoppings in the localized phase, we find: $\text{ln}\text{ }{V}_{L}\ensuremath{\simeq}\ensuremath{-}\frac{L}{{\ensuremath{\xi}}_{loc}}+{L}^{\ensuremath{\omega}}u$, where ${\ensuremath{\xi}}_{loc}$ is the localization length and uuu a random variable of order one. The exponent $\ensuremath{\omega}$ is the droplet exponent characterizing the strong disorder phase of the directed polymer in a random medium of dimension $1+(d\ensuremath{-}1)$, with $\ensuremath{\omega}(d=2)=1/3$ and $\ensuremath{\omega}(d=3)\ensuremath{\simeq}0.24$. At criticality (d=3)(d=3)(d=3), the statistics of renormalized hoppings VVV is multifractal, in direct correspondence with the multifractality of individual eigenstates and of two-point transmissions. In particular, we measure ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{typ}\ensuremath{\simeq}1$ for the exponent governing the typical decay $\overline{\text{ln}\text{ }{V}_{L}}\ensuremath{\simeq}\ensuremath{-}{\ensuremath{\rho}}_{typ}\text{ }\text{ln}\text{ }L$, in agreement with previous numerical measures of ${\ensuremath{\alpha}}_{typ}=d+{\ensuremath{\rho}}_{typ}\ensuremath{\simeq}4$ for the singularity spectrum $f(\ensuremath{\alpha})$ of individual eigenfunctions. We also present numerical results concerning critical surface properties.
We describe the critical behavior of the Anderson-like transition predicted to occur in the 2D tight-binding model with isotropic scale-free long-range correlated disorder characterized by a power-law spectral density. We explore the scale invariance of the participation function relative fluctuation at the critical point to locate the mobility edge as a function of the power-law spectral density exponent α 2D . The states near the band center, which exhibit power-law localization for uncorrelated disorder, become delocalized for α 2D >2. In addition, we consider the finite-size scaling hypothesis to estimate the correlation length critical exponent. We find that the critical exponent ν depends on α 2D , thus indicating that correlations in the disorder distribution are indeed relevant in this regime, in agreement with the extended Harris criterion.
We investigate the relation between two complementary descriptions of the Anderson transition on small-world random graphs: finite-size scaling of eigenfunction moments and renormalization-group (RG) flows of multifractal dimensions DqD_qDq​. The RG flows recover the qualitative structure previously reported for the information dimension D1D_1D1​, while their extension to other DqD_qDq​ with smaller moment orders q<1/2q<1/2q<1/2 confirms the strongly multifractal nature of the localized phase characterized by a clear separation between multifractal and localized behaviors at strong disorder. On the other hand, we show that we can construct another beta function characterizing the flow of eigenfunction moments, whose collapse onto a single function across different disorder strengths provides a clear confirmation of single-parameter scaling property. These results indicate that the family of RG trajectories observed for the information dimension D1D_1D1​ need not imply two-parameter scaling and Kosterlitz-Thouless like critical behavior. To characterize these properties, one should consider different observables, such as large q>1/2q>1/2q>1/2 and small q<1/2q<1/2q<1/2 eigenfunction moments, which are associated with distinct critical behaviors, in particular different critical exponents.
We discuss the dependence of the critical properties of the Anderson model on the dimension d in the language of β -function and renormalization group recently introduced in Vanoni et al. [C. Vanoni et al. , Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 121 , e2401955121 (2024)] in the context of Anderson transition on random regular graphs. We show how in the delocalized region, including the transition point, the one-parameter scaling part of the β -function for the fractal dimension D 1 evolves smoothly from its d = 2 form, in which β 2 ≤ 0 , to its β ∞ ≥ 0 form, which is represented by the random regular graph (RRG) result. We show how the ϵ = d − 2 expansion and the 1 / d expansion around the RRG result can be reconciled and how the initial part of a renormalization group trajectory governed by the irrelevant exponent y depends on dimensionality. We also show how the irrelevant exponent emerges out of the high-gradient terms of expansion in the nonlinear sigma model and put forward a conjecture about a lower bound for the fractal dimension. The framework introduced here may serve as a basis for investigations of disordered many-body systems and of more general nonequilibrium quantum systems.
Anderson localization is fundamentally controlled by dimensionality, yet the nature of the Anderson transition in continuously tunable noninteger dimensions remains largely unexplored. Here, we introduce a family of three-dimensional fractal lattices with continuously tunable spectral dimension ds∈[2,3]d_s\in[2,3]ds​∈[2,3], providing a controlled platform for studying localization physics beyond integer dimensions and across the lower critical dimension ds=2d_s=2ds​=2. Using large-scale finite-size scaling analysis, we systematically investigate the Anderson transition and identify mobility edges throughout the fractal family. The critical disorder strength evolves continuously from 000 to 16.616.616.6 as the spectral dimension increases from 222 to 333. We show that the spectral dimension predominantly governs the universality class of the transition, while the precise critical point is additionally influenced by microscopic geometric details of the underlying fractal lattice. The critical exponent exhibits an approximate inverse dependence on dsd_sds​, providing quantitative insight into scaling theory in noninteger dimensions. Our results establish tunable fractal lattices as a versatile framework for exploring localization and quantum critical phenomena beyond conventional integer-dimensional systems.
We test the usefulness of a generalized inverse participation ratio (GIPR) as a measure of Anderson localization. The GIPR differs from the usual inverse participation ratio in that it is constructed from the local density of states rather than the single-electron wave functions. This makes it suitable for application to many-body systems. We benchmark the GIPR by performing a finite-size scaling analysis of a disordered, noninteracting, three-dimensional tight-binding lattice. We find values for the critical disorder and critical exponents that are in agreement with published values.