Localization and diffusion in Ising-type quantum networks

Abstract

We investigate the effect of phase randomness in Ising-type quantum networks. These networks model a large class of physical systems. They describe micro- and nanostructures or arrays of optical elements such as beam splitters (interferometers) or parameteric amplifiers. Most of these stuctures are promising candidates for quantum information processing networks. We demonstrate that such systems exhibit two very distinct types of behaviour. For certain network configurations (parameters), they show quantum localization similar to Anderson localization whereas classical stochastic behaviour is observed in other cases. We relate these findings to the standard theory of quantum localization.