Kullback-Leibler quantum divergence as an indicator of quantum chaos

Abstract

We discuss a system of a nonlinear Kerr-like oscillator externally pumped by ultra-short, external, coherent pulses. For such a system, we analyse the application of the Kullback-Leibler quantum divergence $K[\rho||\sigma]$ to the detection of quantum chaotic behaviour. Defining linear and nonlinear quantum divergences, and calculating their power spectra, we show that these parameters are more suitable indicators of quantum chaos than the fidelity commonly discussed in the literature, and are useful for dealing with short time series. Moreover, the nonlinear divergence is more sensitive to chaotic bands and to boundaries of chaotic regions, compared to its linear counterpart.