Quantum and Thermal Corrections to a Classically Chaotic Dissipative System

Abstract

The effects of quantum and thermal corrections on the dynamics of a damped nonlinearly kicked harmonic oscillator are studied. This is done via the Quantum Langevin Equation formalism working on a truncated moment expansion of the density matrix of the system. We find that the type of bifurcations present in the system change upon quantization and that chaotic behavior appears for values of the nonlinear parameter that are far below the chaotic threshold for the classical model. Upon increase of temperature or Planck's constant, bifurcation points and chaotic thresholds are shifted towards lower values of the nonlinear parameter. There is also an anomalous reverse behavior for low values of the cutoff frequency.