The question of localization in a one-dimensional tight-binding model with aperiodicity given by substitutions is discussed. Since the localization properties of the well-known Rudin-Shapiro chain is still far from well understood, partly due to the absence of rigorous analytical results, we introduce a sequence that has several features in common with the Rudin-Shapiro sequence. We derive a trace map for this system and prove analytically that the electron spectrum is singular continuous. Despite the extended (non-normalizable) nature of the corresponding wave functions, the states show strong localization for finite approximations of the chain. Similar localization properties are found for the Rudin-Shapiro chain, where earlier results have indicated a pure point spectrum. We compare the properties for two other physical systems, ordered according to the two discussed sequences; stationary electron transmission is studied through finite chains using a dynamical map, optical properties of dielectric multilayer structures are investigated.
A coherent picture of localization in one-dimensional aperiodically ordered systems is still missing. We show the presence of purely singular continuous spectrum for a discrete system whose modulation sequence has a correlation measure which is absolutely continuous, such as for a random sequence. The system showing these properties is modeled by the Rudin-Shapiro sequence, whose correlation measure even has a uniform density. The absence of localization is also supported by a numerical investigation of the dynamics of electronic wave packets showing weakly anomalous diffusion and an extremely slow algebraic decay of the temporal autocorrelation function.
Many of the published results for one-dimensional deterministic aperiodic systems treat rather simplified electron models with either a constant site energy or a constant hopping integral. Here we present some rigorous results for more realistic mixed tight-binding systems with both the site energies and the hopping integrals having an aperiodic spatial variation. It is shown that the mixed Thue–Morse, period-doubling and Rudin–Shapiro lattices can be transformed to on-site models on renormalized lattices maintaining the individual order between the site energies. The character of the energy spectra for these mixed models is therefore the same as for the corresponding on-site models. Furthermore, since the study of electrons on a lattice governed by the Schrödinger tight-binding equation maps onto the study of elastic vibrations on a harmonic chain, we have proved that the vibrational spectra of aperiodic harmonic chains with distributions of masses determined by the Thue–Morse sequence and the period-doubling sequence are purely singular continuous.
Spectral properties of 1D systems with long-range correlated disorder and their response to an applied field are examined. An algorithm based on the additive multi-step Markov chains is used to analyze and synthesize layered systems consisting of two randomly alternated elements. Using an equation connecting the correlation and memory functions enables one to reveal the microscopic structure, which can be expressed in terms of the Markov chain conditional probability function. Specifically, a method of designing complex gratings with prescribed characteristics that simultaneously display periodic, quasi-periodic and random properties is emphasized. The tight-binding Schrödinger equation with a weak correlated disorder in the dichotomic potential exhibiting sharp transition in conductivity is studied.
A new method for constructing a long-range correlated sequence of two-valued random elements with a given correlator is discussed. A Fourier transform of a correlation function having an arbitrary complexity is designed. The real-space correlator, the memory function, and the conditional probability function of the additive Markov chain are calculated sequentially. The diffraction grating and the antenna are considered as a series of 2M+1 scatterers.
The stationary one-dimensional tight-binding Schredinger equation with a weak diagonal long-range correlated disorder in the potential is studied. An algorithm for constructing the discrete binary on-site potential exhibiting a hybrid spectrum with three different spectral components (absolutely continues, singular continues and point) ordered in any predefined manner in the region of energy and/or wave number is presented. A new approach to generating a binary sequence with the long-range memory based on a concept of additive Markov chains is used.