Perturbations and chaos in quantum maps

The local density of states (LDOS) is a distribution that characterizes the effect of perturbations on quantum systems. Recently, it was proposed a semiclassical theory for the LDOS of chaotic billiards and maps. This theory predicts that the LDOS is a Breit-Wigner distribution independent of the perturbation strength and also gives a semiclassical expression for the LDOS witdth. Here, we test the validity of such an approximation in quantum maps varying the degree of chaoticity, the region in phase space where the perturbation is applying and the intensity of the perturbation. We show that for highly chaotic maps or strong perturbations the semiclassical theory of the LDOS is accurate to describe the quantum distribution. Moreover, the width of the LDOS is also well represented for its semiclassical expression in the case of mixed classical dynamics.Comment: 9 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Hypersensitivity and chaos signatures in the quantum baker's maps

Classical chaotic systems are distinguished by their sensitive dependence on initial conditions. The absence of this property in quantum systems has lead to a number of proposals for perturbation-based characterizations of quantum chaos, including linear growth of entropy, exponential decay of fidelity, and hypersensitivity to perturbation. All of these accurately predict chaos in the classical limit, but it is not clear that they behave the same far from the classical realm. We investigate the dynamics of a family of quantizations of the baker's map, which range from a highly entangling unitary transformation to an essentially trivial shift map. Linear entropy growth and fidelity decay are exhibited by this entire family of maps, but hypersensitivity distinguishes between the simple dynamics of the trivial shift map and the more complicated dynamics of the other quantizations. This conclusion is supported by an analytical argument for short times and numerical evidence at later times.Comment: 32 pages, 6 figure

Lyapunov decay in quantum irreversibility

The Loschmidt echo -- also known as fidelity -- is a very useful tool to study irreversibility in quantum mechanics due to perturbations or imperfections. Many different regimes, as a function of time and strength of the perturbation, have been identified. For chaotic systems, there is a range of perturbation strengths where the decay of the Loschmidt echo is perturbation independent, and given by the classical Lyapunov exponent. But observation of the Lyapunov decay depends strongly on the type of initial state upon which an average is done. This dependence can be removed by averaging the fidelity over the Haar measure, and the Lyapunov regime is recovered, as it was shown for quantum maps. In this work we introduce an analogous quantity for systems with infinite dimensional Hilbert space, in particular the quantum stadium billiard, and we show clearly the universality of the Lyapunov regime.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures. Accepted in Phil. Trans. R. Soc.

Loschmidt Echo and the Local Density of States

Loschmidt echo (LE) is a measure of reversibility and sensitivity to perturbations of quantum evolutions. For weak perturbations its decay rate is given by the width of the local density of states (LDOS). When the perturbation is strong enough, it has been shown in chaotic systems that its decay is dictated by the classical Lyapunov exponent. However, several recent studies have shown an unexpected non-uniform decay rate as a function of the perturbation strength instead of that Lyapunov decay. Here we study the systematic behavior of this regime in perturbed cat maps. We show that some perturbations produce coherent oscillations in the width of LDOS that imprint clear signals of the perturbation in LE decay. We also show that if the perturbation acts in a small region of phase space (local perturbation) the effect is magnified and the decay is given by the width of the LDOS.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure

Experimental Implementation of the Quantum Baker's Map

This paper reports on the experimental implementation of the quantum baker's map via a three bit nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) quantum information processor. The experiments tested the sensitivity of the quantum chaotic map to perturbations. In the first experiment, the map was iterated forward and then backwards to provide benchmarks for intrinsic errors and decoherence. In the second set of experiments, the least significant qubit was perturbed in between the iterations to test the sensitivity of the quantum chaotic map to applied perturbations. These experiments are used to investigate previous predicted properties of quantum chaotic dynamics.Comment: submitted to PR

On the Emergence of Nonextensivity at the Edge of Quantum Chaos

We explore the border between regular and chaotic quantum dynamics, characterized by a power law decrease in the overlap between a state evolved under chaotic dynamics and the same state evolved under a slightly perturbed dynamics. This region corresponds to the edge of chaos for the classical map from which the quantum chaotic dynamics is derived and can be characterized via nonextensive entropy concepts.Comment: Invited paper to appear in "Decoherence and Entropy in Complex Systems", ed. H.T. Elze, Lecture Notes in Physics (Springer, Heidelberg), in press. 13 pages including 6 figures and 1 tabl

Time Quasilattices in Dissipative Dynamical Systems

We establish the existence of `time quasilattices' as stable trajectories in dissipative dynamical systems. These tilings of the time axis, with two unit cells of different durations, can be generated as cuts through a periodic lattice spanned by two orthogonal directions of time. We show that there are precisely two admissible time quasilattices, which we term the infinite Pell and Clapeyron words, reached by a generalization of the period-doubling cascade. Finite Pell and Clapeyron words of increasing length provide systematic periodic approximations to time quasilattices which can be verified experimentally. The results apply to all systems featuring the universal sequence of periodic windows. We provide examples of discrete-time maps, and periodically-driven continuous-time dynamical systems. We identify quantum many-body systems in which time quasilattices develop rigidity via the interaction of many degrees of freedom, thus constituting dissipative discrete `time quasicrystals'.Comment: 38 pages, 14 figures. This version incorporates "Pell and Clapeyron Words as Stable Trajectories in Dynamical Systems", arXiv:1707.09333. Submission to SciPos

Contributions of plasma physics to chaos and nonlinear dynamics

This topical review focusses on the contributions of plasma physics to chaos and nonlinear dynamics bringing new methods which are or can be used in other scientific domains. It starts with the development of the theory of Hamiltonian chaos, and then deals with order or quasi order, for instance adiabatic and soliton theories. It ends with a shorter account of dissipative and high dimensional Hamiltonian dynamics, and of quantum chaos. Most of these contributions are a spin-off of the research on thermonuclear fusion by magnetic confinement, which started in the fifties. Their presentation is both exhaustive and compact. [15 April 2016

Semiclassical approach to fidelity amplitude

The fidelity amplitude is a quantity of paramount importance in echo type experiments. We use semiclassical theory to study the average fidelity amplitude for quantum chaotic systems under external perturbation. We explain analytically two extreme cases: the random dynamics limit --attained approximately by strongly chaotic systems-- and the random perturbation limit, which shows a Lyapunov decay. Numerical simulations help us bridge the gap between both extreme cases.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures. Version closest to published versio