Geometric phase and angle for noncyclic adiabatic change, revivals and measures of quantal instability

Abstract

Within the adiabatic theorem we must explicitly add to the instantaneous adiabatic vectors, parametrized by an external parameter following an open curve, a dynamical as well as a geometrical phase contribution to be able to predict the quantum observables. We give an alternative to Berry's proof for cyclic paths without use of Stokes's theorem that is then generalized to open paths. Recent analyses that argued, for an adiabatic open path case, that there is only dynamical phase change or that the situation is undefined are shown to be incorrect. The noncyclic geometric phase correction is discussed in detail for the spin in a magnetic field, an Aharonov-Bohm experiment and a resonator. Properties of the geometric phase contribution for open paths are studied. First, it is shown that degeneracies play an important role. Second, it is shown to be semiclassically related to a geometric angle shift on the final torus. The revival structure of wavepackets is shown to be affected by the noncyclic geometric phases of the, contributing instantaneous vectors that make the revived wavepacket to be shifted on the final torus by the classical geometric angle. We also propose two measures of quantum sensitivity to initial conditions. The first one is valid for quantum and classical Liouville states and it is given by the different distances of two close states to a third fixed state. The second measure is given by the divergence of the flow lines of suitable quantum phase space representations and reduces to the classical Lyapunov exponent. (author)SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:D210288 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo