Regular and chaotic quantum motions

In the framework of Bohm's interpretation of quantum mechanics, particles are subject to both classical and quantum forces and actually follow physical trajectories. A natural definition of chaos in quantum mechanics is therefore possible and it is measured by a quantum Lyapunov exponent. In or...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPhysics letters. A Vol. 212; no. 1; pp. 29 - 38
Main Authors Iacomelli, Guglielmo, Pettini, Marco
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier B.V 11.03.1996
Subjects
05.45.+b
03.65.Bz
03.65.−w
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Summary:In the framework of Bohm's interpretation of quantum mechanics, particles are subject to both classical and quantum forces and actually follow physical trajectories. A natural definition of chaos in quantum mechanics is therefore possible and it is measured by a quantum Lyapunov exponent. In order to test the effectiveness of this new definition of quantum chaoticity, we have comparatively studied a classical model and a truncated N-level quantum model of a hydrogen atom acted upon by an external electromagnetic field. We find direct evidence for the existence of quantum chaotic motions, for a chaotic transition and for a quantum attenuation of classical chaos in a broad range of external field amplitudes.
ISSN:0375-9601
1873-2429
DOI:10.1016/0375-9601(96)00027-8