Experimental Observation of Resonance-Assisted Tunneling

Phys Rev Lett. 2015 Sep 4;115(10):104101. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.115.104101. Epub 2015 Sep 1.

Abstract

We present the first experimental observation of resonance-assisted tunneling, a wave phenomenon, where regular-to-chaotic tunneling is strongly enhanced by the presence of a classical nonlinear resonance chain. For this we use a microwave cavity made of oxygen free copper with the shape of a desymmetrized cosine billiard designed with a large nonlinear resonance chain in the regular region. It is opened in a region, where only chaotic dynamics takes place, such that the tunneling rate of a regular mode to the chaotic region increases the line width of the mode. Resonance-assisted tunneling is demonstrated by (i) a parametric variation and (ii) the characteristic plateau and peak structure towards the semiclassical limit.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Models, Theoretical*
  • Nonlinear Dynamics
  • Quantum Theory*