Energy dependence of localization with interactions and disorder: The generalized inverse participation ratio of an ensemble of two-site Anderson-Hubbard systems

Abstract: After Anderson's prediction of disorder-induced insulating behavior, extensive work found no singularities in the density of states of localized systems. However, Johri and Bhatt recently uncovered the existence of a non-analyticity in the density of states near the band edge of non-interacting systems with bounded disorder, in an energy range outside that captured by previous work. Moreover, this feature marks the boundary of an energy range in which the localization is sharply suppressed. Given strong current interest in the effect of interactions on disordered systems, we explore here the effect of a Hubbard $U$ interaction on this behavior. We find that in ensembles of small systems a cusp in the density of states persists and continues to be associated with a sharp suppression of the localization. We explore the origins of this behavior and discuss its connection with many-body localization.