Notions of Adiabatic Drift in the Quantized Harper model

TL;DR

This paper investigates the behavior of eigenvalues and state transitions in a quantized, drifting Harper Hamiltonian, revealing how adiabatic and diabatic processes depend on the rate of parameter variation and the classical phase space structure.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of adiabatic drift in the quantized Harper model, analyzing how slow parameter changes induce transitions across a wide energy spectrum.

Findings

Eigenvalue spacings span many orders of magnitude.

Transitions depend on the drift rate, with negligible rates suppressing superpositions.

The energy level structure may be common in non-local quantum systems related to classical resonances.

Abstract

We study a quantized, discrete and drifting version of the Harper Hamiltonian, also called the finite almost Mathieu operator, which resembles the pendulum Hamiltonian but in phase space is confined to a torus. Spacing between pairs of eigenvalues of the operator spans many orders of magnitude, with nearly degenerate pairs of states at energies that are associated with circulating orbits in the associated classical system. When parameters of the system slowly vary, both adiabatic and diabatic transitions can take place at drift rates that span many orders of magnitude. Only under an extremely negligible drift rate would all transitions into superposition states be suppressed. The wide range of energy level spacings could be a common property of quantum systems with non-local potentials that are related to resonant classical dynamical systems. Notions for adiabatic drift are discussed for quantum systems that are associated with classical ones with divided phase space.