How to predict critical state: Invariance of Lyapunov exponent in dual spaces

Abstract

The critical state in disordered systems, a fascinating and subtle eigenstate, has attracted a lot of research interest. However, the nature of the critical state is difficult to describe quantitatively. Most of the studies focus on numerical verification, and cannot predict the system in which the critical state exists. In this work, we propose an explicit and universal criterion that for the critical state Lyapunov exponent should be 0 simultaneously in dual spaces, namely Lyapunov exponent remains invariant under Fourier transform. With this criterion, we exactly predict a specific system hosting a large number of critical states for the first time. Then, we perform numerical verification of the theoretical prediction, and display the self-similarity and scale invariance of the critical state. Finally, we conjecture that there exist some kind of connection between the invariance of the Lyapunov exponent and conformal invariance.