title: Control of wave packet spreading in nonlinear finite disordered lattices.
abstract: In the absence of nonlinearity all normal modes (NMs) of a chain with disorder are spatially localized (Anderson localization). We study the action of nonlinearity, whose strength is ramped linearly in time. It leads to a spreading of a wave packet due to interaction with and population of distant NMs. Eventually nonlinearity-induced frequency shifts take over and the wave packet becomes self-trapped. On finite chains a critical ramping speed is obtained, which separates delocalized final states from localized ones. The critical value depends on the strength of disorder and is largest when the localization length matches the system size.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Rodrigo A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Vicencio
authors.forename: Sergej
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Flach