Motional stability of the quantum kicked rotor: A fidelity approach

Abstract

We propose an atom optics experiment to measure the stability of the quantum kicked rotor under perturbations of the Hamiltonian. We avail ourselves of the theory of Loschmidt echoes, i.e., we consider the overlap of a quantum state evolved in a perturbed and an unperturbed potential. Atom interferometry allows us to determine the overlap integral in amplitude and phase. A numerical analysis of the kicked rotor in various regimes shows that the quantum signatures of specific classical properties can be detected experimentally.