Localization of light in disordered dielectrics: an approach based on spectral statistics

We study numerically the fluctuation properties of the eigenvalues of the scalar wave equation in two dimensions for strong disorder. This equation mimicks properties of light in dielectrics. With increasing disorder, we find a transition from diffusive to localized behavior, in complete analogy to the case of Schrodinger waves (electrons). At low frequencies, we observe a suppression of disorder. This effect is caused by the wave number dependence of the disorder term in the wave equation, and has no analog in the case of electrons.