Power-law behavior in the quantum-resonant evolution of the delta-kicked accelerator

Halkyard, P.L.; Saunders, M.; Gardiner, S.A.; Challis, K.J.

Abstract

We consider the atom-optical delta-kicked accelerator when the initial momentum distribution is symmetric. We demonstrate the existence of quantum-resonant dynamics, and derive analytic expressions for the system evolution. In particular, we consider the dynamical evolution of the momentum moments and find that all even-ordered momentum moments exhibit a power-law growth. In the ultracold (zero-temperature) limit the exponent is determined by the order of the moment, whereas for a broad, thermal initial momentum distribution the exponent is reduced by 1. To demonstrate the power-law behavior explicitly we consider the evolutions of the second- and fourth-order momentum moments, and cumulants, for an initially Gaussian momentum distribution corresponding to the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution of an ideal gas at thermal equilibrium.

Citation

Halkyard, P., Saunders, M., Gardiner, S., & Challis, K. (2008). Power-law behavior in the quantum-resonant evolution of the delta-kicked accelerator. Physical Review A, 78(6), https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.78.063401

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Dec 1, 2008
• Deposit Date: Jun 30, 2010
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 1, 2010
• Journal: Physical Review A - Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
• Print ISSN: 1050-2947
• Electronic ISSN: 1094-1622
• Publisher: American Physical Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 78
• Issue: 6
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.78.063401
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1530560
• Publisher URL: http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRA/v78/e063401