The delta-function-kicked rotor: Momentum diffusion and the quantum-classical boundary

Abstract

We investigate the quantum-classical transition in the delta-kicked rotor and the attainment of the classical limit in terms of measurement-induced state-localization. It is possible to study the transition by fixing the environmentally induced disturbance at a sufficiently small value, and examining the dynamics as the system is made more macroscopic. When the system action is relatively small, the dynamics is quantum mechanical and when the system action is sufficiently large there is a transition to classical behavior. The dynamics of the rotor in the region of transition, characterized by the late-time momentum diffusion coefficient, can be strikingly different from both the purely quantum and classical results. Remarkably, the early time diffusive behavior of the quantum system, even when different from its classical counterpart, is stabilized by the continuous measurement process. This shows that such measurements can succeed in extracting essentially quantum effects. The transition regime studied in this paper is accessible in ongoing experiments.

8 pages, 4 figures, revtex4 (revised version contains much more introductory material)

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Cited by in corpus (7)

• Experimental investigation of early-time diffusion in the quantum kicked rotor using a Bose-Einstein condensate
• Continuous Quantum Measurement and the Quantum to Classical Transition
• From localization to anomalous diffusion in the dynamics of coupled kicked rotors
• Non-monotonicity in the quantum-classical transition: Chaos induced by quantum effects
• Semiclassics of the Chaotic Quantum-Classical Transition
• Transient chaos - a resolution of breakdown of quantum-classical correspondence in optomechanics
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