Algebraic delocalization for the Schr\"odinger equation on large tori

Abstract

Let $\mathcal{L}$ be a fixed $d$-dimensional lattice. We study the localization properties of solutions of the stationary Schr\"odinger equation with a positive $L^\infty$ potential on tori $\mathbb{R}^d/L\mathcal{L}$ in the limit, as $L\to\infty$, for dimension $d \leq 3$. We show that the probability measures associated with $L^2$-normalized solutions, with eigenvalue $E$ near the bottom of the spectrum, satisfy an algebraic delocalization theorem which states that these probability measures cannot be localized inside a ball of radius $r = o(E^{-1/4+\epsilon})$, unless localization occurs with a sufficiently slow algebraic decay. In particular, we apply our result to Schr\"odinger operators modeling disordered systems, such as the d-dimensional continuous Anderson- Bernoulli model, where almost sure exponential localization of eigenfunctions, in the limit as $E \to 0$, was proved by Bourgain-Kenig in dimension $d \geq 2$, and show that our theorem implies an algebraic blow-up of localization length in this limit.