Quantum walks in the commensurate off-diagonal Aubry-André-Harper model

Abstract

Due to the topological nature of Aubry-Andr\'{e}-Harper (AAH) model, exotic edge states have been found existing in one-dimensional periodic and quasiperiodic lattices. In this article, we investigate continuous-time quantum walks of identical particles initially located on either edge of commensurate AAH lattices in detail. It is shown that the quantum walker is delocalized among the whole lattice until the strength of periodic modulation is strong enough. The inverse participation ratios (IPRs) for all of the eigenstates are calculated. It is found that the localization properties of the quantum walker is mainly determined by the IPRs of the topologically protected edge states. More interestingly, the edge states are shown to have an exotic `\emph{repulsion}' effect on quantum walkers initiated from the lattice sites inside the bulk. Furthermore, we examine the role of nearest-neighbour interaction on the quantum walks of two identical fermions. Clear enhancement of the `\emph{repulsion}' effect by strong interaction has been shown.