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arXiv:0811.1936 · Journal of Physics A Mathematical and Theoretical

Semiclassical investigation of the revival phenomena in a one-dimensional system

Zhe-xian Wang, Eric J Heller

Published Jun 24, 2009• 22 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

In a quantum revival, a localized wave packet re-forms or ‘revives’ into a compact reincarnation of itself long after it has spread in an unruly fashion over a region restricted only by the potential energy. This is a purely quantum phenomenon, which has no classical analog. Quantum revival and Anderson localization are members of a small class of subtle interference effects resulting in a quantum distribution radically different from the classical after long time evolution under classically nonlinear evolution. However, it is not clear that semiclassical methods, which start with the classical density and add interference effects, are in fact capable of capturing the revival phenomenon. Here we investigate two different one-dimensional systems, the infinite square well and Morse potential. In both the cases, after a long time the underlying classical manifolds are spread rather uniformly over phase space and are correspondingly spread in coordinate space, yet the semiclassical amplitudes are able to destructively interfere over most of coordinate space and constructively interfere in a small region, correctly reproducing a quantum revival. Further implications of this ability are discussed.

DOI
10.1088/1751-8113/42/28/285304

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In a quantum revival, a localized wave packet re-forms or ‘revives’ into a compact reincarnation of itself long after it has spread in an unruly fashion over a region restricted only by the potential energy. This is a purely quantum phenomenon, which has no classical analog. Quantum revival and Anderson localization are members of a small class of subtle interference effects resulting in a quantum distribution radically different from the classical after long time evolution under classically nonlinear evolution. However, it is not clear that semiclassical methods, which start with the classical density and add interference effects, are in fact capable of capturing the revival phenomenon. Here we investigate two different one-dimensional systems, the infinite square well and Morse potential. In both the cases, after a long time the underlying classical manifolds are spread rather uniformly over phase space and are correspondingly spread in coordinate space, yet the semiclassical amplitudes are able to destructively interfere over most of coordinate space and constructively interfere in a small region, correctly reproducing a quantum revival. Further implications of this ability are discussed.
We present an analytical investigation of revival phenomena in the finite square-well potential. The classical motion, revival, and super-revival time scales are derived exactly for wave packets excited in the finite well. These time scales exhibit a richer dependence on wave-packet energy and on potential-well depth than has been found in other quantum systems: They explain, for example, the difficulties in exciting wave packets with strong classical features at the bottom of a finite well, or with clearly resolved super-revivals in a shallow well. In the proper regions of validity, the time scales predict the instances of wave-packet reformation extremely accurately. Revivals at the bottom of the well are explored as a ``universal'' limit of the general theory, which offers the clearest connection with the series of fractional and full revivals seen in the dynamics of the infinite square-well potential.
A general semiclassical method in phase space based on the final value representation of the Wigner function is considered that bypasses caustics and the need to root search for classical trajectories. We demonstrate its potential by applying the method to the Kerr Hamiltonian, for which the exact quantum evolution is punctuated by a sequence of intricate revival patterns. The structure of such revival patterns, lying far beyond the Ehrenfest time, is semiclassically reproduced and revealed as a consequence of constructive and destructive interferences of classical trajectories.
The collapse and revival of localized states in many-body systems is a quintessential example of a quantum interference phenomenon that cannot be explained purely within mean-field theories. Historically, the majority of previous work on quantum revivals has been in a Schrödinger mechanics context, typically for effectively 1D systems with a focus on the autocorrelation function as the key detection observable. The general revival subject acquires a far greater complexity in the bosonic many-body context that offers a larger variety of observables and intrinsically implies high dimensionality. Here, the focus is on the simplest nontrivial (i.e., not 1D) bosonic many-body system, namely a symmetric two-site Bose-Hubbard model. The non-equilibrium situation of a coherent initial state prepared on one of the two sites of this integrable 2D system in the strongly self-trapping regime is considered. The revival behaviors emerging from the resulting dynamics within expectation values, coherences, and the autocorrelation function are theoretically derived, and the entanglement behavior is illustrated. Several new features, unknown so far in the Schrödinger context and identified here in terms of five ``puzzles'', are encountered and discussed, among them, a synchronized resurgence behavior, differing revivals times depending on the specific observable, and a manifestation of a precession that appears in the underlying mean field dynamics. These new phenomena can be entirely understood through a comprehensive semiclassical theory, building upon the underlying classical (mean-field) phase-space structure. A quantitative comparison of the latter with semiclassical predictions and quantum perturbative calculations yields an overall excellent agreement and confirms that a full semiclassical theory is pivotal for the understanding of these genuinely quantum many-body interference phenomena.
Wave packet revivals and fractional revivals are hallmark quantum interference phenomena that arise in systems with nonlinear energy spectra, and their signatures in expectation values of observables have been studied extensively in earlier work. In this article, we build on these studies and extend the analysis in two important directions. First, we investigate fractional revival dynamics in angular momentum observables, deriving explicit expressions for the time evolution of their moments and demonstrating that higher-order angular momentum moments provide clear and selective signatures of fractional revivals. Second, we examine classical analogs of quantum revival phenomena and elucidate structural similarities between quantum fractional revivals and recurrence behavior in representative classical systems. Using the Kerr-type nonlinear Hamiltonian as a paradigmatic model, we analyze the autocorrelation function, moment dynamics, and phase-space structures, supported by visualizations such as quantum carpets. Our results broaden the range of experimentally accessible diagnostics of fractional revivals and provide a unified perspective on revival phenomena across quantum and classical dynamical systems.
Fractional revivals of wave packets in an infinite square well are scrutinized with a viewpoint rooted in Fourier analysis, and a compact relation, expressing the wavefunction Ψ( x , t ) for certain values of t in terms of spatially displaced copies of Ψ( x ,0), is derived without appealing to a classical analogy ; conditions for the appearance of an interference pattern in a plot of the position probability density of a wave packet are deduced, along with related results obtained previously from different considerations, with minimal effort. The specific case of a packet of Gaussian shape is analysed in greater detail to provide concrete illustrations of fractional revivals with or without interference between overlapping copies of wave packets, depending on whether a finite value of the so-called classical time can or cannot be assigned to the wave packet.
Localized quantum wave packets can be produced in a variety of physical systems and are the subject of much current research in atomic, molecular, chemical, and condensed-matter physics. They are particularly well suited for studying the classical limit of a quantum-mechanical system. The motion of a localized quantum wave packet initially follows the corresponding classical motion. However, in most cases the quantum wave packet spreads and undergoes a series of collapses and revivals. We present a generic treatment of wave-packet evolution, and we provide conditions under which various types of revivals occur in ideal form. The discussion is at a level appropriate for an advanced undergraduate or first-year graduate course in quantum mechanics. Explicit examples of different types of revival structure are provided, and physical applications are discussed.