Abstract

Following a recent theoretical analysis of Graham et al [1], we report a direct experimental realization of the periodically driven rotor. Our system consists of a sample of ultra-cold atoms in a modulated standing wave of near-resonant light. The atomic momentum transfer is governed by a dimensionless Hamiltonian, H=p²/2+kcos(ϕ-λsin t), which exhibits the classical characteristic of resonant kicks. The quantized system, which was compared to the standard map [1], contains a rescaled Planck constant which, along with k and λ, can be experimentally varied over many orders of magnitude.

© 1994 Optical Society of America