The transition to classical chaos in a coupled quantum system through continuous measurement

Details The transition to classical chaos in a coupled quantum system through continuous measurement The transition to classical chaos in a coupled quantum system through continuous measurement

2003-09-11

arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0309093v1

Phys. Rev. A69 (2004) 052116

Physics

Quantum Physics

8 pages, 5 figures

Scientific paper

10.1103/PhysRevA.69.052116

Continuous observation of a quantum system yields a measurement record that faithfully reproduces the classically predicted trajectory provided that the measurement is sufficiently strong to localize the state in phase space but weak enough that quantum backaction noise is negligible. We investigate the conditions under which classical dynamics emerges, via continuous position measurement, for a particle moving in a harmonic well with its position coupled to internal spin. As a consequence of this coupling we find that classical dynamics emerges only when the position and spin actions are both large compared to $\hbar$. These conditions are quantified by placing bounds on the size of the covariance matrix which describes the delocalized quantum coherence over extended regions of phase space. From this result it follows that a mixed quantum-classical regime (where one subsystem can be treated classically and the other not) does not exist for a continuously observed spin 1/2 particle. When the conditions for classicallity are satisfied (in the large-spin limit), the quantum trajectories reproduce both the classical periodic orbits as well as the classically chaotic phase space regions. As a quantitative test of this convergence we compute the largest Lyapunov exponent directly from the measured quantum trajectories and show that it agrees with the classical value.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

The transition to classical chaos in a coupled quantum system through continuous measurement does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with The transition to classical chaos in a coupled quantum system through continuous measurement, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and The transition to classical chaos in a coupled quantum system through continuous measurement will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-109916