INHIBITION OF MIXING IN CHAOTIC QUANTUM DYNAMICS

We study the quantum chaotic dynamics of an initially well-localized wave packet in a cosine potential perturbed by an external time-dependent force. For our choice of initial condition and with Latin small letter h with stroke small but finite, we find that the wvae packet behaves classically (meaning that the quantum behavior is indistinguishable from that of the analogous classical system) as long as the motion is confined to the interior of the remnant separatrix of the cosine potential. Once the classical motion becomes unbounded, however, we find that quantum interference effects dominate. This interference leads to a long-lived accumulation of quantum ampliutde on top of the cosine barrier. This pinning of the amplitude on the barrier is a dynamic mechanism for the quantum inhibition of classical mixing. © 1995 The American Physical Society.