How to characterize the dynamics of cold atoms in non dissipative optical lattices?

Abstract

Cold atoms are a tremendous tool to study the transition between the classical and the quantum world. Numerous approaches have been followed, as e.g. the realization of quantum logical gates [1,2], or the study of the properties of a Bose-Einstein condensate. The dynamics of classical cold atoms have also been investigated, mainly through instabilities of the disordered cloud produced by a magneto-optical trap [3–6]. However, the richer dynamics is expected in ordered potential, as those obtained with optical lattices. In such potentials, atoms, in their travel from site to site, can exhibit a very complex dynamics, including chaos. Up to now, the experimental works in this domain are very limited. Quantum chaos has been studied for atoms in the wells of a 1D kicked potential [7,8], and some works described the diffusion of atoms in optical lattices [9].