Laser-induced quantum chaos in 1-D crystals

TL;DR

This paper investigates how a homogeneous laser field influences the electronic band structure of a 1-D crystal, revealing a transition from regular to chaotic energy level statistics and suggesting experimental accessibility of chaos.

Contribution

It introduces a model linking laser coupling to quantum chaos in 1-D crystals and characterizes the transition of energy level statistics with increasing laser interaction.

Findings

Energy level statistics transition from Poisson to Wigner-Dyson and back to Poisson.

Chaotic behavior is observable across various energy bands, not just high-lying ones.

Classical dynamics resemble a periodically driven pendulum.

Abstract

We study the electronic band structure for a model one-dimensional periodic potential in the presence of a spacially homogeneous laser field. The statistical properties of the energy bands depend on the coupling between the crystal and the laser field, going from Poisson to Wigner-Dyson (GOE) and back to Poisson as the coupling increases. We argue that the classical dynamics of this system resembles that of a periodically driven pendulum. We find that the chaotic regime is not restricted solely to high-lying bands and should thus be of easier access to optical experiments.