Abstract The interaction of a quantized electromagnetic field in a cavity with a set of two-level atoms inside it can be described with algebraic Hamiltonians of increasing complexity, from the Rabi to the Dicke models. Their algebraic character allows, through the use of coherent states, a semiclassical description in phase space, where the non-integrable Dicke model has regions associated with regular and chaotic motion. The appearance of classical chaos can be quantified calculating the largest Lyapunov exponent over the whole available phase space for a given energy. In the quantum regime, employing efficient diagonalization techniques, we are able to perform a detailed quantitative study of the regular and chaotic regions, where the quantum participation ratio ( P R ) of coherent states on the eigenenergy basis plays a role equivalent to the Lyapunov exponent. It is noted that, in the thermodynamic limit, dividing the participation ratio by the number of atoms leads to a positive value in chaotic regions, while it tends to zero in the regular ones.
The emergence of chaos in an atom-field system is studied employing both semiclassical and numerical quantum techniques, taking advantage of the algebraic character of the Hamiltonian. A semiclassical Hamiltonian is obtained by considering the expectation value of the quantum Hamiltonian in Glauber (for the field) and Bloch (for the atoms) coherent states. Regular and chaotic regions are identified by looking at the Poincaré sections for different energies and parameter values. An analytical expression for the semiclassical energy density of states is obtained by integrating the available phase space, which provides an exact unfolding to extract the fluctuations in the level statistics. Quantum chaos is recognized in these fluctuations, as a function of the coupling strength, for different regions in the energy spectrum, evaluating the Anderson–Darling (A–D) parameter, which distinguishes the Wigner- or Poisson-like distributions. Peres lattices play a role similar to the Poincaré section for quantum states. They are calculated employing efficient numerical solutions and are a powerful visual tool to identify individual states belonging to a regular or chaotic region, classified by utilizing the Poincaré sections and the A–D parameter. Finally, the quantum Husimi function for selected excited states is shown to have a noticeable similitude with the Poincaré sections at the same energy.
Employing efficient diagonalization techniques, we perform a detailed quantitative study of the regular and chaotic regions in phase space in the simplest nonintegrable atom-field system, the Dicke model. A close correlation between the classical Lyapunov exponents and the quantum Participation Ratio of coherent states on the eigenenergy basis is exhibited for different points in the phase space. It is also shown that the Participation Ratio scales linearly with the number of atoms in chaotic regions and with its square root in the regular ones.
The quantum dynamics of initial coherent states is studied in the Dicke model and correlated with the dynamics, regular or chaotic, of their classical limit. Analytical expressions for the survival probability, i.e. the probability of finding the system in its initial state at time t, are provided in the regular regions of the model. The results for regular regimes are compared with those of the chaotic ones. It is found that initial coherent states in regular regions have a much longer equilibration time than those located in chaotic regions. The properties of the distributions for the initial coherent states in the Hamiltonian eigenbasis are also studied. It is found that for regular states the components with no negligible contribution are organized in sequences of energy levels distributed according to Gaussian functions. In the case of chaotic coherent states, the energy components do not have a simple structure and the number of participating energy levels is larger than in the regular cases.
We study the coupled translational, electronic, and field dynamics of the combined system "a two-level atom + a single-mode quantized field + a standing-wave ideal cavity". We derive Hamilton -- Schr\\"odinger equations for probability amplitudes and averaged position and momentum of a point-like atom interacting with the quantized field in a standing-wave cavity. They constitute, in general, an infinite-dimensional set of equations with an infinite number of integrals of motion which may be reduced to a dynamical system with four degrees of freedom if the quantized field is supposed to be initially prepared in a Fock state. This system is found to produce semiquantum chaos with positive values of the maximal Lyapunov exponent. At large values of detuning
∣delta∣gg1, the Rabi atomic oscillations are usually shallow, and the dynamics is found to be almost regular. The Doppler -- Rabi resonance, deep Rabi oscillations that may occur at any large value of
∣delta∣ to be equal to
∣alphap0∣, is found numerically and described analytically (with
alpha to be the normalized recoil frequency and
p0 the initial atomic momentum). Two gedanken experiments are proposed to detect manifestations of semiquantum chaos in real experiments. In the chaotic regime values of the population inversion
zout, measured with atoms after transversing a cavity, are so sensitive to small changes in the initial inversion
zin that the probability of detecting any value of
zout in the admissible interval becomes almost unity in a short time. Chaotic wandering of a two-level atom in a quantized Fock field is shown to be fractal. Fractal-like structures, typical for chaotic scattering, are numerically found in the dependence of the time of exit of atoms from the cavity on their initial momenta.
The nonintegrable Dicke model and its integrable approximation, the Tavis-Cummings model, are studied as functions of both the coupling constant and the excitation energy. The present contribution extends the analysis presented in the previous paper by focusing on the statistical properties of the quantum fluctuations in the energy spectrum and their relation with the excited-state quantum phase transitions. These properties are compared with the dynamics observed in the semiclassical versions of the models. The presence of chaos for different energies and coupling constants is exhibited, employing Poincar\'e sections and Peres lattices in the classical and quantum versions, respectively. A clear correspondence between the classical and quantum result is found for systems containing between
N=80 and 200 atoms. A measure of the Wigner character of the energy spectrum for different couplings and energy intervals is also presented employing the statistical Anderson-Darling test. It is found that in the Dicke model, for any coupling, a low-energy regime with regular states is always present. The richness of the onset of chaos is discussed both for finite quantum systems and for the semiclassical limit, which is exact when the number of atoms in the system tends to infinite.
The effect of a large environment on a finite-size quantum mechanical system is two-fold: It brings dissipation, but also fluctuations of thermal and quantum origin. While dissipation tends to stabilize the dynamics, we question if and how environmental quantum fluctuations can generate chaos in an otherwise classically non-chaotic system. We work out a paradigmatic model of quantum optics: the dissipative Dicke model, where a large spin interacts with a dissipative harmonic mode. We dial in the classical/quantum correspondence by working in the semiclassical regime at large but finite spin. We demonstrate that, starting from a classically regular phase space in the superradiant regime, quantum noise can generate a strange attractor with fractal dimension and a positive Lyapunov exponent. We unveil the deep connection with shear-induced chaos that was recently developed in the mathematical community.