Experimentally controlling scattering of water waves in correlated disorder

Abstract

Wave propagation in complex media is a universal problem spanning optics, acoustics, mechanics, and condensed matter physics. While disorder usually causes strong scattering, recent theory predicts that a special class of correlated disorder, known as stealthy hyperuniformity, can suppress scattering at long wavelengths, making a material transparent despite remaining structurally disordered and far from a simple homogenization regime. Experimental evidence of this remarkable transport regime within a medium has, however, remained limited. Here we report a direct, spatially resolved experimental observation of a transition between scattering and non-scattering wave transport induced by hyperuniform correlations. Using water waves as a model platform, we image both the amplitude and phase of the wavefield as it propagates through a two-dimensional disordered structure. This enables us to extract quantitative transport observables, including extinction lengths, statistical fluctuations, and energy-flow patterns, and to directly identify the boundary of the hyperuniform transparency regime. Our results provide a quantitative experimental validation of the transport regimes predicted for stealthy hyperuniform disorder and demonstrate that correlated disorder offers a powerful and practical route to control wave propagation in realistic systems across wave physics.