Anderson localization of electromagnetic waves in random arrays of dielectric cylinders is studied. An effective theoretical approach based on analysis of probability distributions, not averages, is developed. The disordered dielectric medium is modeled by a system of randomly distributed two-dimensional electric dipoles. Spectra of certain random matrices are investigated and the appearance of the band of localized waves emerging in the limit of an infinite medium is discovered. It suggests deeper insight into the existing experimental results.

• Received 6 February 1997

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.56.4892