Localisation of soft modes at the depinning transition

Alejandro B. Kolton
Condensed Matter Theory Group
Centro Atómico Bariloche and Instituto Balseiro
Bariloche, Argentina


The contact line of a liquid meniscus on a rough surface, vortices in a type II superconductor, domain walls in ferromagnetic or ferroelectric materials, fractures or amorphous solids under tension, friction between solids or tectonic plates, are some examples of systems that can flow only above a finite threshold drive at which a putative depinning transition takes place. The latter is usually characterized by intermittency and large avalanches of activity or “earthquakes” upon approaching the critical point. On the other hand, Anderson localization is usually associated to the specific quantum behaviour atomic or subatomic particles display in a random potential. In this talk I will show there is a nice and fruitful connexion between these two problems, for the paradigmatic case of driven elastic interfaces in random media [*].

[*] X. Cao, S. Bouzat, A. Rosso, A. B. Kolton, arXiv:1705.10289 [cond-mat.dis-nn].