Seminar by Dr Hoogerland 'From the Quantum to the Classical in a Chaotic System'

Speaker:
Dr Maarten Hoogerland
Department of Physics and Dodd-Walls Centre for Photonic and Quantum Technologies, University of Auckland, New Zealand

Seminar Title:
From the Quantum to the Classical in a Chaotic System

Abstract:
When does a `quantum’ system become classical? When does the quantum wave interference picture turn into one of billiard balls? Is it when the system’s `big’? When you look at it? When it’s noisy? All of these are, to a certain extent, true—but with caveats.

In our experiment we take advantage of an easily accessible quantum chaotic system, the delta-kicked rotor, and use it as a tool to investigate the crossover between a ‘quantum’ picture and a ‘classical’ picture. In our system, ultracold atoms are subject to a series of regularly spaced ‘kicks’ from an optical lattice. An atomic Bose-Einstein condensate of 30 000 87Rb atoms provides our source, and sinusoidal phase modulation of an optical standing wave adds controllable noise. I will present results from experiments in this system.

Furthermore I will present an outlook at future experiments in my group, which will center on Anderson localisation in one experiment, and optical nanofibers and micro-resonators in another.