Directed motion for delta-kicked atoms with broken symmetries: comparison between theory and experiment.
We report an experimental investigation of momentum diffusion in the delta-function kicked rotor where time symmetry is broken by a two-period kicking cycle and spatial symmetry by an alternating linear potential. We exploit this, and a technique involving a moving optical potential, to create an asymmetry in the momentum diffusion that is due to the classical chaotic diffusion. This represents a realization of a type of Hamiltonian quantum ratchet.
Jones
P H
PH
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom.
Goonasekera
M
M
Meacher
D R
DR
Jonckheere
T
T
Monteiro
T S
TS