Studies in Quantum Chaology

混沌的概念及其随之而来的后果深刻地影响了我们对宏观或经典世界中许多现象的看法。然而，这些想法延伸到微观量子世界在很大程度上仍然是一个谜，特别是在经典和量子现象之间有望存在对应的情况下。已经确定的是，只有量子效应才能在经典的混沌系统中看到，这种行为统称为量子混沌。“局部的”和“全局的”这两大类区分了分别对经典描述的细节敏感和不敏感的影响。在拟议的工作中，这些问题是在最近原子光学实现的简单动力学范例的背景下考虑的。在这些实验的早期工作的基础上，一个目标是在这个实验背景下研究“局域”机制，特别强调对比有和没有经典混沌系统中的量子相干性。直接评估的可能性使这成为一种新的实现。这将为评估局部和全球影响的相互作用提供一个具有良好特点的系统，对动力学和非平衡现象中的一般方面具有更广泛的意义。

The notion of chaos and its accompanying consequences have had a profound impact on our view of a number of phenomena in the macroscopic or classical world. However, the extension of these ideas to the microscopic quantum world largely remains a mystery, especially as a correspondence between classical and quantum phenomena is expected to exist. What is established is that exclusively quantum effects are seen in classically chaotic systems, behavior collectively designated as quantum chaology. Two broad classes of `local` and `global` distinguish effects which are, respectively, sensitive and insensitive to details of the classical description. In the proposed work, these issues are considered in the context of a recent atom optics realization of a simple dynamical paradigm. Building on earlier work with these experiments, one objective is to study `local` mechanisms in this experimental context with particular emphasis on contrasting quantum coherence in systems with and without classical chaos. The possibility of a direct assessment makes this a novel realization. This would then provide a well-characterized system to assess the interplay of local and global effects which has broader significance to generic aspects in dynamics and non- equilibrium phenomena.