Paper detail

Delocalization of ultracold atoms in a disordered potential due to light scattering

We numerically study the expansion dynamics of ultracold atoms in a one-dimensional disordered potential in the presence of a weak position measurement of the atoms. We specifically consider this position measurement to be realized by a combination of an external laser and a periodic array of optical microcavities along a waveguide. The position information is acquired through the scattering of a near-resonant laser photon into a specific eigenmode of one of the cavities. The time evolution of the atomic density in the presence of this light scattering mechanism is described within a Lindblad master equation approach, which is numerically implemented using the Monte Carlo wave function technique. We find that an arbitrarily weak rate of photon emission leads to a breakdown of Anderson localization of the atoms.