Eur. Phys. J. B (2017) 90: 41
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2017-70433-1

Regular Article

Edge states in a two-dimensional quantum walk with disorder

Aix Marseille Université, Centre de Physique Théorique, Campus de Luminy, 13288 Marseille, France

^a e-mail: Alberto.Verga@univ-amu.fr

Received: 14 July 2016
Received in final form: 30 December 2016
Published online: 8 March 2017

Abstract

We investigate the effect of spatial disorder on the edge states localized at the interface between two topologically different regions. Rotation disorder can localize the quantum walk if it is strong enough to change the topology, otherwise the edge state is protected. Nonlinear spatial disorder, dependent on the walker’s state, attracts the walk to the interface even for very large coupling, preserving the ballistic transport characteristic of the clean regime.