Quantum versus classical phase-locking transition in a driven-chirped oscillator

TL;DR

This paper compares classical and quantum phase-locking transitions in a driven nonlinear oscillator, analyzing different regimes and thresholds, and validating results through numerical solutions and phase space visualization.

Contribution

It introduces a unified analysis of classical autoresonance and quantum ladder climbing in a driven oscillator using dimensionless parameters.

Findings

Classical autoresonance occurs above a certain threshold in P1.

Quantum ladder climbing dominates when P2 is much larger than P1+1.

Thresholds and widths of phase-locking transitions are quantitatively calculated.

Abstract

Classical and quantum-mechanical phase locking transition in a nonlinear oscillator driven by a chirped frequency perturbation is discussed. Different limits are analyzed in terms of the dimensionless parameters $% P_{1}=\epsilon /\sqrt{2m\hbar \omega_{0}\alpha}$ and $P_{2}=(3\hbar \beta)/(4m\sqrt{\alpha})$ ($\epsilon,$ $\alpha,$ $\beta$ and $\omega_{0}$ being the driving amplitude, the frequency chirp rate, the nonlinearity parameter and the linear frequency of the oscillator). It is shown that for $P_{2}\ll P_{1}+1$, the passage through the linear resonance for $P_{1}$ above a threshold yields classical autoresonance (AR) in the system, even when starting in a quantum ground state. In contrast, for $% P_{2}\gg P_{1}+1$, the transition involves quantum-mechanical energy ladder climbing (LC). The threshold for the phase-locking transition and its width in $P_{1}$ in both AR and LC limits are calculated. The theoretical results are tested by solving the Schrodinger equation in the energy basis and illustrated via the Wigner function in phase space.