Hyperuniform states of matter

Abstract

Hyperuniform states of matter are correlated systems that are characterized by an anomalous suppression of long-wavelength (i.e., large-length-scale) density fluctuations compared to those found in garden-variety disordered systems, such as ordinary fluids and amorphous solids. All perfect crystals, perfect quasicrystals and special disordered systems are hyperuniform. Thus, the hyperuniformity concept enables a unified framework to classify and structurally characterize crystals, quasicrystals and the exotic disordered varieties. While disordered hyperuniform systems were largely unknown in the scientific community over a decade ago, now there is a realization that such systems arise in a host of contexts across the physical, materials, chemical, mathematical, engineering, and biological sciences, including disordered ground states, glass formation, jamming, Coulomb systems, spin systems, photonic and electronic band structure, localization of waves and excitations, self-organization, fluid dynamics, number theory, stochastic point processes, integral and stochastic geometry, the immune system, and photoreceptor cells. Such unusual amorphous states can be obtained via equilibrium or nonequilibrium routes, and come in both quantum-mechanical and classical varieties. The connections of hyperuniform states of matter to many different areas of fundamental science appear to be profound and yet our theoretical understanding of these unusual systems is only in its infancy. The purpose of this review article is to introduce the reader to the theoretical foundations of hyperuniform ordered and disordered systems. Special focus will be placed on fundamental and practical aspects of the disordered kinds, including our current state of knowledge of these exotic amorphous systems as well as their formation and novel physical properties.