Quantum beats of the rigid rotor
arXiv:1309.5745
Abstract
The dynamics is investigated of a free particle on a sphere (rigid rotor or rotator) that is initially in a coherent state. The instability of coherent states with respect to the free evolution leads to nontrivial time-development of averages of observables representing the position of a particle on a sphere that can be interpreted as quantum beats.
11 pages, 5 figures