Quantum linear kicked rotor
2025 (English)Independent thesis Basic level (degree of Bachelor), 10 credits / 15 HE credits
Student thesis
Abstract [en]
This thesis primarily discusses the linear quantum kicked rotor and its energy growth over long periods of time. The linear kicked rotor is a useful model due to being exactly solvable. It has the Hamiltonian $H=2\pi \alpha p + V(\theta)\sum^\infty_{-\infty} \delta(t-n),\space (0\leq\theta\leq2\pi)$ as written by Berry [Physica D 10 (1984) 369–378]. The quasi-energy eigenstates of the system are localized in $p$ if $\alpha$ is irrational and extended in $p$ if $\alpha$ is rational. The re-derivations of the quasi-energy eigenstates, wave-function and kinetic energy expectation aim at reproducing previous results. The result in Berry's paper is for the pure momentum initial state, where the energy grows quadratically in time when $\alpha$ is rational and remains bounded when $\alpha$ is irrational. A new derivation generalizes the kinetic energy expectation and momentum expectation for arbitrary initial states. The generalized result reduces to Berry's in the case of a pure momentum initial state. Without a pure momentum initial state, the energy growth behaviour over long times still remains the same as Berry's.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2025.
Series
TRITA-SCI-GRU ; 2025:187
Keywords [en]
Linear kicked rotor, quantum kicked rotor, localization, arbitrary initial states, generalized initial states, pure momentum, initial states
National Category
Physical Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-365891OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-365891DiVA, id: diva2:1980145
Subject / course
Physics
Educational program
Master of Science in Engineering -Engineering Physics
Supervisors
Examiners
2025-07-012025-07-012026-06-23Bibliographically approved