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

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

doi:10.1103/physreva.78.063401

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

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

Authors

P.L. Halkyard

M. Saunders

Professor Simon Gardiner s.a.gardiner@durham.ac.uk
Professor

K.J. Challis

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
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
Publisher URL	http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRA/v78/e063401