Ray-Stretching Statistics and Hot-Spot Formation in Weak Random Disorder

Weak scattering in a random disordered medium and the associated extreme-event statistics are of great interest in various physical contexts. Here, in the context of non-relativistic particle motion through a weakly correlated random potential, we show how extreme events in particle densities are strongly related to the stretching exponents, where the ’hot spots’ in the intensity profile correspond to minima in the stretching exponents. This strong connection is expected to be valid for different random potential distributions, as long as the disorder is correlated and weak, and is also expected to apply to other physical contexts, such as deep ocean waves.