A time–frequency analysis of wave packet fractional revivals

2007/06/11 by Suranjana Ghosh, J. Banerji
Physics and Astronomy · #Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates #Quantum chaos and dynamical systems #Spectroscopy and Quantum Chemical Studies #quant-ph

paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/0953-4075/40/17/021

published as J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 40 (2007) 3545--3553 · 9 pages, 4 figures

arxiv created 2007/06/11 · openalex publication_date 2007/08/28 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

We show that the time frequency analysis of the autocorrelation function is, in many ways, a more appropriate tool to resolve fractional revivals of a wave packet than the usual time domain analysis. This advantage is crucial in reconstructing the initial state of the wave packet when its coherent structure is short-lived and decays before it is fully revived. Our calculations are based on the model example of fractional revivals in a Rydberg wave packet of circular states. We end by providing an analytical investigation which fully agrees with our numerical observations on the utility of time-frequency analysis in the study of wave packet fractional revivals.

Citations

• Classical and quantum-mechanical dynamics of a quasiclassical state of the hydrogen atom
• Fractional wave-function revivals in the infinite square well
• Observation of the collapse and revival of a Rydberg electronic wave packet
• Observation of fractional revivals in the evolution of a Rydberg atomic wave packet