Bose–Hubbard Hamiltonian: Quantum chaos approach

Abstract

We discuss applications of the theory of quantum chaos to one of the paradigm models of many-body quantum physics — the Bose–Hubbard (BH) model, which describes, in particular, interacting ultracold Bose atoms in an optical lattice. After preliminary, pure quantum analysis of the system we introduce the classical counterpart of the BH model and the governing semiclassical equations of motion. We analyze these equations for the problem of Bloch oscillations (BOs) of cold atoms where a number of experimental results are available. The paper is written for nonexperts and can be viewed as an introduction to the field.