Ehrenfest Time Research Articles

Decoherence of a Quantum Nonlinear Oscillator Under a Non-zero TemperatureThermal Bath

The characteristic time τD for decoherence process of aquantum nonlinear oscillator system under a non-zero temperaturethermal bath is studied by expanding thelinear entropy. By numerical analysis, it is shown that at anon-zero temperature, the quantum coherence decays much fasterthan at zero temperature. Moreover, the non-zero temperaturethermal bath will bring a crucial suppression to the quantum effects of theobservables, which causes these quantum effects to become unable to persist upto the Ehrenfest time but is insufficient to destroy thequantum-classical transition.

Quantum Variance and Ergodicity for the Baker's Map

We prove a Egorov theorem, or quantum-classical correspondence, for the quantised baker's map, valid up to the Ehrenfest time. This yields a logarithmic upper bound for the decay of the quantum variance, and, as a corollary, a quantum ergodic theorem for this map.

Classical limit of transport in quantum kicked maps

We investigate the behavior of weak localization, conductance fluctuations, and shot noise of a chaotic scatterer in the semiclassical limit. Time-resolved numerical results, obtained by truncating the time evolution of a kicked quantum map after a certain number of iterations, are compared to semiclassical theory. Considering how the appearance of quantum effects is delayed as a function of the Ehrenfest time gives a new method to compare theory and numerical simulations. We find that both weak localization and shot noise agree with semiclassical theory, which predicts exponential suppression with increasing Ehrenfest time. However, conductance fluctuations exhibit different behavior, with only a slight dependence on the Ehrenfest time.

Deterministic Weak Localization in Periodic Structures

In some perfect periodic structures classical motion exhibits deterministic diffusion. For such systems we present the weak localization theory. As a manifestation for the velocity autocorrelation function a universal power law decay is predicted to appear at four Ehrenfest times. This deterministic weak localization is robust against weak quenched disorders, which may be confirmed by coherent backscattering measurements of periodic photonic crystals.

Quantum-to-classical correspondence in open chaotic systems

We review properties of open chaotic mesoscopic systems with a finite Ehrenfest time tau_E. The Ehrenfest time separates a short-time regime of the quantum dynamics, where wave packets closely follow the deterministic classical motion, from a long-time regime of fully-developed wave chaos. For a vanishing Ehrenfest time the quantum systems display a degree of universality which is well described by random-matrix theory. In the semiclassical limit, tau_E becomes parametrically larger than the scattering time off the boundaries and the dwell time in the system. This results in the emergence of an increasing number of deterministic transport and escape modes, which induce strong deviations from random-matrix universality. We discuss these deviations for a variety of physical phenomena, including shot noise, conductance fluctuations, decay of quasibound states, and the mesoscopic proximity effect in Andreev billiards.

Dissipative Quantum Chaos: Transition from Wave Packet Collapse to Explosion

Using the quantum trajectories approach, we study the quantum dynamics of a dissipative chaotic system described by the Zaslavsky map. For strong dissipation the quantum wave function in the phase space collapses onto a compact packet which follows classical chaotic dynamics and whose area is proportional to the Planck constant. At weak dissipation the exponential instability of quantum dynamics on the Ehrenfest time scale dominates and leads to wave packet explosion. The transition from collapse to explosion takes place when the dissipation time scale exceeds the Ehrenfest time. For integrable nonlinear dynamics the explosion practically disappears leaving place to collapse.

Quantum-to-classical crossover for Andreev billiards in a magnetic field

We extend the existing quasiclassical theory for the superconducting proximity effect in a chaotic quantum dot, to include a time-reversal-symmetry breaking magnetic field. Random-matrix theory (RMT) breaks down once the Ehrenfest time $\tau_E$ becomes longer than the mean time $\tau_D$ between Andreev reflections. As a consequence, the critical field at which the excitation gap closes drops below the RMT prediction as $\tau_E/\tau_D$ is increased. Our quasiclassical results are supported by comparison with a fully quantum mechanical simulation of a stroboscopic model (the Andreev kicked rotator).

Ehrenfest-Time Dependence of Weak Localization in Open Quantum Dots

Semiclassical theory predicts that the weak localization correction to the conductance of a ballistic chaotic cavity is suppressed if the Ehrenfest time exceeds the dwell time in the cavity [I. L. Aleiner and A. I. Larkin, Phys. Rev. B 54, 14423 (1996)]. We report numerical simulations of weak localization in the open quantum kicked rotator that confirm this prediction. Our results disagree with the "effective random matrix theory" of transport through ballistic chaotic cavities.

Semiclassical Propagation of Coherent States with Spin-Orbit Interaction

We study semiclassical approximations to the time evolution of coherent states for general spin-orbit coupling problems in two different semiclassical scenarios: The limit \hbar to zero is first taken with fixed spin quantum number s and then with \hbar*s held constant. In these two cases different classical spin-orbit dynamics emerge. We prove that a coherent state propagated with a suitable classical dynamics approximates the quantum time evolution up to an error of size \sqrt{\hbar} and identify an Ehrenfest time scale. Subsequently an improvement of the semiclassical error to an arbitray order \hbar^{N/2} is achieved by a suitable deformation of the state that is propagated classically.

Ehrenfest time in the weak dynamical localization

The quantum kicked rotor (QKR) is known to exhibit dynamical localization in the space of its angular momentum. The present paper is devoted to the systematic first--principal (without a regularizer) diagrammatic calculations of the weak--localization corrections for QKR. Our particular emphasis is on the Ehrenfest time regime -- the phenomena characteristic for the classical--to--quantum crossover of classically chaotic systems.

Microscopic Theory for the Quantum to Classical Crossover in Chaotic Transport

We present a semiclassical theory for the scattering matrix S of a chaotic ballistic cavity at finite Ehrenfest time. Using a phase-space representation coupled with a multibounce expansion, we show how the Liouville conservation of phase-space volume decomposes S as S=S(cl) plus sign in circle S(qm). The short-time, classical contribution S(cl) generates deterministic transmission eigenvalues T=0 or 1, while quantum ergodicity is recovered within the subspace corresponding to the long-time, stochastic contribution S(qm). This provides a microscopic foundation for the two-phase fluid model, in which the cavity acts like a classical and a quantum cavity in parallel, and explains recent numerical data showing the breakdown of universality in quantum chaotic transport in the deep semiclassical limit. We show that the Fano factor of the shot-noise power vanishes in this limit, while weak localization remains universal.

Semiclassical Behaviour of Expectation Values in Time Evolved Lagrangian States for Large Times

We study the behaviour of time evolved quantum mechanical expectation values in Lagrangian states in the limit $\hbar\to 0$ and $t\to\infty$. We show that it depends strongly on the dynamical properties of the corresponding classical system. If the classical system is strongly chaotic, i.e. Anosov, then the expectation values tend to a universal limit. This can be viewed as an analogue of mixing in the classical system. If the classical system is integrable, then the expectation values need not converge, and if they converge their limit depends on the initial state. An additional difference occurs in the timescales for which we can prove this behaviour, in the chaotic case we get up to Ehrenfest time, $t\sim \ln(1/\hbar)$, whereas for integrable system we have a much larger time range.

Lyapunov spreading of semiclassical wave packets for the Lorentz gas: Theory and applications

We consider the quantum-mechanical propagator for a particle moving in a d -dimensional Lorentz gas, with fixed, hard-sphere scatterers. To evaluate this propagator in the semiclassical region, and for times less than the Ehrenfest time, we express its effect on an initial Gaussian wave packet in terms of quantities analogous to those used to describe the exponential separation of trajectories in the classical version of this system. This result relates the spread of the wave packet to the rate of separation of classical trajectories, characterized by positive Lyapunov exponents. We consider applications of these results, first to illustrate the behavior of the wave-packet autocorrelation functions for wave packets on periodic orbits. The autocorrelation function can be related to the fidelity, or Loschmidt echo, for the special case that the perturbation is a small change in the mass of the particle. An exact expression for the fidelity, appropriate for this perturbation, leads to an analytical result valid over very long time intervals, inversely proportional to the size of the mass perturbation. For such perturbations, we then calculate the long-time echo for semiclassical wave packets on periodic orbits.

Exponential Sensitivity to Dephasing of Electrical Conduction Through a Quantum Dot

According to random-matrix theory, interference effects in the conductance of a ballistic chaotic quantum dot should vanish proportional to (tau(phi)/tau(D))(p) when the dephasing time tau(phi) becomes small compared to the mean dwell time tau(D). Aleiner and Larkin have predicted that the power law crosses over to an exponential suppression proportional to exp((-tau(E)/tau(phi)) when tau(phi) drops below the Ehrenfest time tau(E). We report the first observation of this crossover in a computer simulation of universal conductance fluctuations. Their theory also predicts an exponential suppression proportional to exp((-tau(E)/tau(D)) in the absence of dephasing--which is not observed. We show that the effective random-matrix theory proposed previously for quantum dots without dephasing explains both observations.

Quantum-to-Classical Crossover of Quasibound States in Open Quantum Systems

In the semiclassical limit of open ballistic quantum systems, we demonstrate the emergence of instantaneous decay modes guided by classical escape faster than the Ehrenfest time. The decay time of the associated quasibound states is smaller than the classical time of flight. The remaining long-lived quasibound states obey random-matrix statistics, renormalized in compliance with the recently proposed fractal Weyl law for open systems [W.T. Lu, S. Sridhar, and M. Zworski, Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 154101 (2003)]. We validate our theory numerically for a model system, the open kicked rotator.

Weak dynamical localization in periodically kicked cold atomic gases.

Quantum kicked rotor was recently realized in experiments with cold atomic gases and standing optical waves. As predicted, it exhibits dynamical localization in the momentum space. Here we consider the weak-localization regime concentrating on the Ehrenfest time scale. The latter accounts for the spread time of a minimal wave packet and is proportional to the logarithm of the Planck constant. We show that the onset of the dynamical localization is essentially delayed by four Ehrenfest times, and give quantitative predictions suitable for an experimental verification.

Effective description of the gap fluctuation for chaotic Andreev billiards

An effective random matrix theory description is developed for the universal gap fluctuations and the ensemble averaged density of states of chaotic Andreev billiards for finite Ehrenfest time. It yields a very good agreement with the numerical calculation for Sinai-Andreev billiards. A systematic linear decrease of the mean field gap with increasing Ehrenfest time $\tau_E$ is observed but its derivative with respect to $\tau_E$ is in between two competing theoretical predictions and close to that of the recent numerical calculations for Andreev map. The exponential tail of the density of states is interpreted semi-classically.

Universality of the Lyapunov regime for the Loschmidt echo

The Loschmidt echo (LE) is a magnitude that measures the sensitivity of quantum dynamics to perturbations in the Hamiltonian. For a certain regime of the parameters, the LE decays exponentially with a rate given by the Lyapunov exponent of the underlying classically chaotic system. We develop a semiclassical theory, supported by numerical results in a Lorentz gas model, which allows us to establish and characterize the universality of this Lyapunov regime. In particular, the universality is evidenced by the semiclassical limit of the de Broglie wavelength going to zero, the behavior for times longer than Ehrenfest time, the insensitivity with respect to the form of the perturbation, and the behavior of individual (nonaveraged) initial conditions. Finally, by elaborating a semiclassical approximation to the Wigner function, we are able to distinguish between classical and quantum origin for the different terms of the LE. This approach renders an understanding for the persistence of the Lyapunov regime after the Ehrenfest time, as well as a reinterpretation of our results in terms of the quantum-classical transition.

Ehrenfest oscillations in the level statistics of chaotic quantum dots

We study a crossover from classical to quantum picture in the electron energy statistics in a system with broken time-reversal symmetry. The perturbative and nonperturbative parts of the two level correlation function, $R(\omega)$ are analyzed. We find that in the intermediate region, $\Delta\ll\omega\sim t_E^{-1}\ll t_{erg}^{-1}$, where $t_E$ and $t_{erg}$ are the Ehrenfest and ergodic times, respectively, $R(\omega)$ consists of a series of oscillations with the periods depending on $t_E$, deviating from the universal Wigner-Dyson statistics. These Ehrenfest oscillations have the period dependence as $t_E^{-1}$ in the perturbative part. [For systems with time-reversal symmetry, this oscillation in the perturbative part of $R(\omega)$ was studied in an earlier work (I. L. Aleiner and A. I. Larkin, Phys. Rev. E {\bf 55}, R1243 (1997))]. In the nonperturbative part they have the period dependence as $(\Delta^{-1}+\alpha t_E)^{-1}$ with $\alpha$ a universal numerical factor. The amplitude of the leading order Ehrenfest oscillation in the nonperturbative part is larger than that of the perturbative part.

Survival of quantum effects for observables after decoherence

When a quantum nonlinear system is linearly coupled to an infinite bath of harmonic oscillators, quantum coherence of the system is lost on a decoherence time scale ${\ensuremath{\tau}}_{D}$. Nevertheless, quantum effects for observables may still survive environment-induced decoherence and be observed for times much larger than the decoherence time scale. In particular, we show that the Ehrenfest time, which characterizes a departure of quantum dynamics for observables from the corresponding classical dynamics, can be observed for a quasiclassical nonlinear oscillator for times $\ensuremath{\tau}⪢{\ensuremath{\tau}}_{D}$. We discuss this observation in relation to recent experiments on quantum nonlinear systems in the quasiclassical region of parameters.