Quantum scaling laws in the onset of dynamical delocalization

We study the destruction of dynamical localization, experimentally observed in an atomic realization of the kicked rotor, by a deterministic Hamiltonian perturbation, with a temporal periodicity incommensurate with the principal driving. We show that the destruction is gradual, with well defined scaling laws for the various classical and quantum parameters, in sharp contrast with predictions based on the analogy with Anderson localization.Comment: 3 pages, revtex

Classical diffusive dynamics for the quasiperiodic kicked rotor

We study the classical dynamics of a quasiperiodic kicked rotor, whose quantum counterpart is known to be an equivalent of the 3D Anderson model. Using this correspondence allowed for a recent experimental observation of the Anderson transition with atomic matter waves. In such a context, it is particularly important to assert the chaotic character of the classical dynamics of this system. We show here that it is a 3D anisotropic diffusion. Our simple analytical predictions for the associated diffusion tensor are found in good agreement with the results of numerical simulations.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Jour. Mod. Opt

Reversible Destruction of Dynamical Localization

Dynamical localization is a localization phenomenon taking place, for example, in the quantum periodically-driven kicked rotor. It is due to subtle quantum destructive interferences and is thus of intrinsic quantum origin. It has been shown that deviation from strict periodicity in the driving rapidly destroys dynamical localization. We report experimental results showing that this destruction is partially reversible when the deterministic perturbation that destroyed it is slowly reversed. We also provide an explanation for the partial character of the reversibility.Comment: 4 pages, 2 eps figures (color

Experimental realization of an ideal Floquet disordered system

The atomic Quantum Kicked Rotor is an outstanding "quantum simulator" for the exploration of transport in disordered quantum systems. Here we study experimentally the phase-shifted quantum kicked rotor, which we show to display properties close to an ideal disordered quantum system, opening new windows into the study of Anderson physics.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, submitted to New Journal of Physics focus issue on Quantum Transport with Ultracold Atom

Ratchet Effect in the Quantum Kicked Rotor and its Destruction by Dynamical Localization

We study experimentally a quantum kicked rotor with broken parity symmetry, supporting a ratchet effect due to the presence of a classical accelerator mode. We show that the short-time dynamics is very well described by the classical dynamics, characterized by a strongly asymmetric momentum distribution with directed motion on one side, and an anomalous diffusion on the other. At longer times, quantum effects lead to dynamical localization, causing an asymptotic resymmetrization of the wave function.Comment: v1: 5 pages, 3 figures; v2: published version, title, abstract and introduction change

Controlling symmetry and localization with an artificial gauge field in a disordered quantum system

Anderson localization, the absence of diffusion in disordered media, draws its origins from the destructive interference between multiple scattering paths. The localization properties of disordered systems are expected to be dramatically sensitive to their symmetry characteristics. So far however, this question has been little explored experimentally. Here, we investigate the realization of an artificial gauge field in a synthetic (temporal) dimension of a disordered, periodically-driven (Floquet) quantum system. Tuning the strength of this gauge field allows us to control the time-reversal symmetry properties of the system, which we probe through the experimental observation of three symmetry-sensitive `smoking-gun' signatures of localization. The first two are the coherent backscattering, marker of weak localization, and the coherent forward scattering, genuine interferential signature of Anderson localization, observed here for the first time. The third is the direct measurement of the $\beta(g)$ scaling function in two different symmetry classes, allowing to demonstrate its universality and the one-parameter scaling hypothesis