Realization of discrete quantum billiards in a two-dimensional optical lattice

Author: Ramaz Khomeriki
Co-authors: Dmitry O. Krimer
Annotation:

We propose a method for optical visualization of the Bose-Hubbard model with two interacting bosons in the form of two-dimensional (2D) optical lattices consisting of optical waveguides, where the waveguides at the diagonal are characterized by different refractive indices than others elsewhere, modeling the boson-boson interaction. We study the light intensity distribution function averaged over the direction of propagation for both ordered and disordered cases, exploring the sensitivity of the averaged picture with respect to the beam injection position. For our finite systems, the resulting patterns are reminiscent the ones set in billiards, and therefore we introduce a definition of discrete quantum billiards and discuss the possible relevance to its well-established continuous counterpart.