NUS Physics Breakthrough of the Year: 2024

We’ve uncovered a surprising connection between how coffee droplets spread on paper and when quantum particles become frozen in highly disordered environments. Essentially, we’re studying how waves (of light, sound, or particles from quantum mechanics) behave when their surroundings aren’t uniform. A key focus is Anderson localization, where disorder is so strong and stops waves from spreading. By applying the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang physics, normally used to describe the growth of interface, like the edge of the coffee droplet, we found universal patterns in how the intensity of the localized wave fluctuates. These insights offer a fresh perspective on the behavior of the localized wave and mark a major leap forward in the field.