Interacting ultracold atomic kicked rotors: dynamical localization ?

Abstract

We study the fate of dynamical localization of two quantum kicked rotors with contact interaction. This interaction mimics experimental realizations with ultracold atomic gases. Dynamical localization for a single rotor takes place in momentum space. The contact interaction affects the evolution of the relative momentum $k$ of a pair of interacting rotors in a non-analytic way. Consequently the evolution operator $U$ is exciting large relative momenta with amplitudes which decay only as a power law $1/k^4$. This is in contrast to the center-of-mass momentum $K$ for which the amplitudes excited by $U$ decay superexponentially fast. Therefore dynamical localization is preserved for the center-of-mass momentum, but destroyed for the relative momentum for any nonzero strength of interaction.