Chaos in the Dicke model: quantum and semiclassical analysis

Abstract

The emergence of chaos in an atom-field system is studied employing both semiclassical and numerical quantum techniques, taking advantage of the algebraic character of the Hamiltonian. A semiclassical Hamiltonian is obtained by considering the expectation value of the quantum Hamiltonian in Glauber (for the field) and Bloch (for the atoms) coherent states. Regular and chaotic regions are identified by looking at the Poincaré sections for different energies and parameter values. An analytical expression for the semiclassical energy density of states is obtained by integrating the available phase space, which provides an exact unfolding to extract the fluctuations in the level statistics. Quantum chaos is recognized in these fluctuations, as a function of the coupling strength, for different regions in the energy spectrum, evaluating the Anderson–Darling (A–D) parameter, which distinguishes the Wigner- or Poisson-like distributions. Peres lattices play a role similar to the Poincaré section for quantum states. They are calculated employing efficient numerical solutions and are a powerful visual tool to identify individual states belonging to a regular or chaotic region, classified by utilizing the Poincaré sections and the A–D parameter. Finally, the quantum Husimi function for selected excited states is shown to have a noticeable similitude with the Poincaré sections at the same energy.