Energy diffusion in strongly driven quantum chaotic systems: Role of correlations of the matrix elements

Abstract

The energy evolution of a quantum chaotic system under the perturbation that harmonically depends on time is studied for the case of large perturbation, in which the rate of transition calculated from the Fermi golden rule (FGR) is about or exceeds the frequency of perturbation. For this case the models of Hamiltonian with random non-correlated matrix elements demonstrate that the energy evolution retains its diffusive character, but the rate of diffusion increases slower than the square of the magnitude of perturbation, thus destroying the quantum-classical correspondence for the energy diffusion and the energy absorption in the classical limit $\hbar \to 0$. The numerical calculation carried out for a model built from the first principles (the quantum analog of the Pullen - Edmonds oscillator) demonstrates that the evolving energy distribution, apart from the diffusive component, contains a ballistic one with the energy dispersion that is proportional to the square of time. This component originates from the chains of matrix elements with correlated signs and vanishes if the signs of matrix elements are randomized. The presence of the ballistic component formally extends the applicability of the FGR to the non-perturbative domain and restores the quantum-classical correspondence.