Quantum chaos with cesium atoms: pushing the boundaries

Atomic motion in pulsed, periodic optical potentials provides a unique expe rimental testing ground for quantum chaos. In the first generation of exper iments with sodium atoms we observed dynamical localization, a quantum supp ression of chaotic diffusion. To go beyond this work we have constructed an experiment with cold cesium atoms, and report our first results from this system. The larger mass and longer wavelength push out the momentum boundar y in phase space that arises from the nonzero duration of the pulses. This feature should enable the study of noise effects and dimensionality on dyna mical localization. We propose a new method of quantum state preparation ba sed on stimulated Raman transitions for studies of mixed phase space dynami cs. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.