Sharp phase transitions for the almost Mathieu operator

Abstract

It is known that the spectral type of the almost Mathieu operator (AMO) depends in a fundamental way on both the strength of the coupling constant and the arithmetic properties of the frequency. We study the competition between those factors and locate the point where the phase transition from singular continuous spectrum to pure point spectrum takes place, which solves Jitomirskaya’s conjecture. Together with a previous work by Avila, this gives the sharp description of phase transitions for the AMO for the a.e. phase.