Abstract
We report on the experimental observation of environment induced decoherence in the quantum delta-kicked rotor. Ultracold cesium atoms are subjected to a pulsed standing wave of near resonant light. Spontaneous scattering of photons destroys dynamical localization thereby giving rise to a quantum diffusion, which approaches the classical diffusion with an increasing degree of decoherence. This tendency is enhanced by a stronger stochasticity in the underlying classical system. A comparison with theoretical predictions is presented.
- Received 8 December 1997
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.80.4111
©1998 American Physical Society