Experimentally controlling scattering of water waves in correlated disorder
Wave propagation in complex media is a universal problem spanning optics, acoustics, mechanics, and condensed matter physics. While disorder usually causes strong scattering, recent theory predicts that a special class of correlated disorder, known as stealthy hyperuniformity, can suppress scattering at long wavelengths, making a material transparent despite remaining structurally disordered and far from a simple homogenization regime. Experimental evidence of this remarkable transport regime within a medium has, however, remained limited. Here we report a direct, spatially resolved experimental observation of a transition between scattering and nonscattering wave transport induced by hyperuniform correlations. Using water waves as a model platform, we image both the amplitude and phase of the wavefield as it propagates through a two-dimensional disordered structure. This enables us to extract quantitative transport observables, including extinction lengths, statistical fluctuations, and energy-flow patterns, and to directly identify the boundary of the hyperuniform transparency regime. Our results provide a quantitative experimental validation of the transport regimes predicted for stealthy hyperuniform disorder and demonstrate that correlated disorder offers a powerful and practical route to control wave propagation in realistic systems across wave physics.
Authors
- Marcel Filoche (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8637-3016)
- Rémi Carminati (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5839-1820)
- Angélique Campaniello
- Emmanuel Fort (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2770-3753)
Institutions
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Université Paris-Saclay (FR)
- Institut d’Optique Graduate School (FR)
- ESPCI Paris (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2026-09-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2605721123
- Primary Topic
- Random lasers and scattering media
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Simons Foundation
- AXA Research Fund