ABSTRACT

EXPLORING QUANTUM CHAOS IN A SPIN 1/2 ATOM DRIVEN BY A 3D CHAOTIC

MAGNETIC FIELD

by Jared Goettemoeller

Quantum chaos is a field of research that attempts to introduce chaos theory into quantum
mechanics. There has already been a significant body of work on classically chaotic systems
viewed through a quantum lens, so we looked at a spin 1/2 atom driven by a 3d chaotic
magnetic field. We used mathematical tools such as Lyapunov exponents, Bloch spheres,
and correlation functions to analyze the system. We found some mixed results and that it
is likely more interesting to use a spin 1 atom.
EXPLORING QUANTUM CHAOS IN A SPIN 1/2 ATOM DRIVEN BY A 3D CHAOTIC
MAGNETIC FIELD

A Thesis

Submitted to the
Faculty of Miami University
in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the degree of
Master of Science
Department of Physics
by
Jared Christopher Goettemoeller
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio
2017

Advisor: Perry Rice

Reader: Leno Pedrotti
Reader: Samir Bali
Reader: Jennifer Blue

@2017 Jared Christopher Goettemoeller

 This select thesis titled

EXPLORING QUANTUM CHAOS IN A SPIN 1/2 ATOM DRIVEN BY A 3D CHAOTIC

MAGNETIC FIELD

by

Jared Christopher Goettemoeller

has been approved for publication by

College of Arts and Sciences

and
Department of Physics

Perry Rice

Leno Pedrotti

Samir Bali

Jennifer Blue
Contents

Acknowledgements xiii

Introduction 1

1 Quantum Chaos 3
1.1 Lie Groups and Algebra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2 Semiclassical Chaos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.3 Quantum Chaos through a Hamiltonian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

2 Chaotic Magnetic Fields 11

2.1 Lorenz System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.2 Lindblad Master Equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

3 Methodology 19
3.1 Test Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.2 Analytical Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.2.1 Lyapunov . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.2.2 Bloch Sphere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.2.3 Correlations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

4 Results 23
4.1 Lyapunovs for σi (t) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
4.1.1 No Collapse Operator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
4.1.2 Collapse Operator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

iii
 4.2 Bloch Sphere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
4.2.1 No Collapse Operator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
4.2.2 Collapse Operator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
4.2.3 Longer Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
4.3 Correlations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.3.1 No Collapse Operator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.3.2 Collapse Operator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
4.3.3 More Time Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
4.4 Lyapunovs for σi ((t) With a Random Hamiltonian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
4.4.1 No Collapse Operator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
4.4.2 Collapse Operator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
4.5 Bloch Sphere With a Random Hamiltonian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
4.5.1 No Collapse Operator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
4.5.2 Collapse Operator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
4.6 Correlations With a Random Hamiltonian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
4.6.1 No Collapse Operator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
4.6.2 Collapse Operator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
4.6.3 More Time Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

5 Conclusions 60

A Code for Lorenz Plots and Lyapunovs 62

B Code for Correlations 68

C Code for Bloch Sphere 73

D Code for Random Hamiltonian 76

References 78

iv
List of Figures

2.1 Lorenz with σ = 10, ρ = 0.5, β = 8/3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

2.2 Lorenz with σ = 10, ρ = 10, β = 8/3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.3 Lorenz with σ = 10, ρ = 12, β = 8/3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.4 Lorenz with σ = 10, ρ = 16, β = 8/3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.5 Lorenz with σ = 10, ρ = 20, β = 8/3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.6 Lorenz with σ = 10, ρ = 24.4, β = 8/3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.7 Lorenz with σ = 10, ρ = 28, β = 8/3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.8 Lorenz with σ = 10, ρ = 100, β = 8/3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

3.1 Lyapunov exponents showing chaos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

3.2 Lyapunov exponents showing no chaos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.3 Bloch sphere showing chaos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.4 Bloch sphere showing no chaos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.5 Correlation showing chaos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3.6 Correlation showing no chaos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

4.1 Lyapunov exponents for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and ψ1 . . . 24
4.2 Lyapunov exponents for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and ψ2 . . . 24
4.3 Lyapunov exponents for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and ψ3 . . . 24
4.4 Lyapunov exponents for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and ψ1 . . 24
4.5 Lyapunov exponents for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and ψ2 . . 25
4.6 Lyapunov exponents for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and ψ3 . . 25
4.7 Lyapunov exponents for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5 and ψ1 . . 25
4.8 Lyapunov exponents for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5 and ψ2 . . 25

v
4.9 Lyapunov exponents for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5 and ψ3 . . 26
4.10 Lyapunov exponents for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5 and ψ1 . 26
4.11 Lyapunov exponents for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5 and ψ2 . 26
4.12 Lyapunov exponents for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5 and ψ3 . 26
4.13 Bloch sphere for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and ψ1 . . . . . . . 27
4.14 Bloch sphere for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and ψ2 . . . . . . . 27
4.15 Bloch sphere for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and ψ3 . . . . . . . 27
4.16 Bloch sphere for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and ψ1 . . . . . . 27
4.17 Bloch sphere for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and ψ2 . . . . . . 28
4.18 Bloch sphere for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and ψ3 . . . . . . 28
4.19 Bloch sphere for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5 and ψ1 . . . . . . 28
4.20 Bloch sphere for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5 and ψ2 . . . . . . 28
4.21 Bloch sphere for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5 and ψ3 . . . . . . 29
4.22 Bloch sphere for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5 and ψ1 . . . . . 29
4.23 Bloch sphere for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5 and ψ2 . . . . . 29
4.24 Bloch sphere for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5 and ψ3 . . . . . 29
4.25 Bloch sphere for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and ψ1 . This is out
to t = 10000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
4.26 Bloch sphere for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and ψ3 . This is out
to t = 10000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
4.27 Correlation of hσx (t1 + t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0
and ψ1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.28 Correlation of hσx (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0
and ψ1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.29 Correlation of hσy (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0
and ψ1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.30 Correlation of hσx (t1 + t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 10, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0
and ψ1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.31 Correlation of hσx (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 10, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0
and ψ1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

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4.32 Correlation of hσy (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 10, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0
and ψ1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
4.33 Correlation of hσx (t1 +t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 24.4, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0
and ψ1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
4.34 Correlation of hσx (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 24.4, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0
and ψ1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
4.35 Correlation of hσy (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 24.4, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0
and ψ1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
4.36 Correlation of hσx (t1 + t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0
and ψ1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
4.37 Correlation of hσx (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0
and ψ1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
4.38 Correlation of hσy (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0
and ψ1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
4.39 Correlation of hσx (t1 + t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0
and ψ2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
4.40 Correlation of hσx (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0
and ψ2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
4.41 Correlation of hσy (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0
and ψ2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
4.42 Correlation of hσx (t1 + t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 10, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0
and ψ2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
4.43 Correlation of hσx (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 10, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0
and ψ2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
4.44 Correlation of hσy (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 10, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0
and ψ2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
4.45 Correlation of hσx (t1 +t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 24.4, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0
and ψ2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
4.46 Correlation of hσx (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 24.4, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0
and ψ2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

vii
4.47 Correlation of hσy (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 24.4, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0
and ψ2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
4.48 Correlation of hσx (t1 + t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0
and ψ2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
4.49 Correlation of hσx (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0
and ψ2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
4.50 Correlation of hσy (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0
and ψ2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
4.51 Correlation of hσx (t1 + t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0
and ψ3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
4.52 Correlation of hσx (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0
and ψ3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
4.53 Correlation of hσy (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0
and ψ3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
4.54 Correlation of hσx (t1 + t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 10, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0
and ψ3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
4.55 Correlation of hσx (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 10, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0
and ψ3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
4.56 Correlation of hσy (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 10, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0
and ψ3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
4.57 Correlation of hσx (t1 +t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 24.4, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0
and ψ3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
4.58 Correlation of hσx (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 24.4, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0
and ψ3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
4.59 Correlation of hσy (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 24.4, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0
and ψ3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
4.60 Correlation of hσx (t1 + t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0
and ψ3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
4.61 Correlation of hσx (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0
and ψ3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

viii
4.62 Correlation of hσy (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0
and ψ3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
4.63 Correlation of hσx (t1 + t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with
γ = 0.5 and ψ1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
4.64 Correlation of hσx (t1 +t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5
and ψ1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
4.65 Correlation of hσy (t1 +t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5
and ψ1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
4.66 Correlation of hσx (t1 +t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 10, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5
and ψ1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
4.67 Correlation of hσx (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 10, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5
and ψ1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
4.68 Correlation of hσy (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 10, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5
and ψ1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
4.69 Correlation of hσx (t1 + t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 24.4, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with
γ = 0.5 and ψ1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
4.70 Correlation of hσx (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 24.4, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with
γ = 0.5 and ψ1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
4.71 Correlation of hσy (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 24.4, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with
γ = 0.5 and ψ1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
4.72 Correlation of hσx (t1 +t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5
and ψ1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
4.73 Correlation of hσx (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5
and ψ1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
4.74 Correlation of hσy (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5
and ψ1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
4.75 Correlation of hσx (t1 + t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with
γ = 0.5 and ψ2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
4.76 Correlation of hσx (t1 +t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5
and ψ2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

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4.77 Correlation of hσy (t1 +t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5
and ψ2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
4.78 Correlation of hσx (t1 +t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 10, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5
and ψ2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
4.79 Correlation of hσx (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 10, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5
and ψ2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
4.80 Correlation of hσy (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 10, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5
and ψ2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
4.81 Correlation of hσx (t1 + t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 24.4, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with
γ = 0.5 and ψ2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
4.82 Correlation of hσx (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 24.4, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with
γ = 0.5 and ψ2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
4.83 Correlation of hσy (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 24.4, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with
γ = 0.5 and ψ2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
4.84 Correlation of hσx (t1 +t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5
and ψ2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
4.85 Correlation of hσx (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5
and ψ2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
4.86 Correlation of hσy (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5
and ψ2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
4.87 Correlation of hσx (t1 + t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with
γ = 0.5 and ψ3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
4.88 Correlation of hσx (t1 +t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5
and ψ3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
4.89 Correlation of hσy (t1 +t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5
and ψ3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
4.90 Correlation of hσx (t1 +t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 10, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5
and ψ3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
4.91 Correlation of hσx (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 10, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5
and ψ3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

x
4.92 Correlation of hσy (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 10, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5
and ψ3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
4.93 Correlation of hσx (t1 + t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 24.4, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with
γ = 0.5 and ψ3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
4.94 Correlation of hσx (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 24.4, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with
γ = 0.5 and ψ3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
4.95 Correlation of hσy (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 24.4, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with
γ = 0.5 and ψ3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
4.96 Correlation of hσx (t1 +t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5
and ψ3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
4.97 Correlation of hσx (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5
and ψ3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
4.98 Correlation of hσy (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5
and ψ3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
4.99 Correlation of hσx (t1 + t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0
and ψ1 . Uses 5000 timesteps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
4.100Lyapunovs the Lorenz system with ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 and 25000
steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
4.101Lyapunovs for random Hamiltonian with γ = 0 and ψ1 . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
4.102Lyapunovs for random Hamiltonian with γ = 0 and ψ2 . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
4.103Lyapunovs for random Hamiltonian with γ = 0 and ψ3 . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
4.104Lyapunovs for random Hamiltonian with γ = 0.5 and ψ1 . . . . . . . . . . . 51
4.105Lyapunovs for random Hamiltonian with γ = 0.5 and ψ2 . . . . . . . . . . . 51
4.106Lyapunovs for random Hamiltonian with γ = 0.5 and ψ3 . . . . . . . . . . . 51
4.107Bloch sphere for random Hamiltonian with γ = 0 and ψ1 . . . . . . . . . . . 52
4.108Bloch sphere for random Hamiltonian with γ = 0 and ψ2 . . . . . . . . . . . 52
4.109Bloch sphere for random Hamiltonian with γ = 0 and ψ3 . . . . . . . . . . . 52
4.110Bloch sphere for random Hamiltonian with γ = 0.5 and ψ1 . . . . . . . . . . 53
4.111Bloch sphere for random Hamiltonian with γ = 0.5 and ψ2 . . . . . . . . . . 53
4.112Bloch sphere for random Hamiltonian with γ = 0.5 and ψ3 . . . . . . . . . . 53

xi
4.113Correlation with random Hamiltonian for hσx (t1 + t2 )σy (t1 )i with γ = 0 and ψ1 54
4.114Correlation with random Hamiltonian for hσx (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i with γ = 0 and ψ1 54
4.115Correlation with random Hamiltonian for hσy (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i with γ = 0 and ψ1 54
4.116Correlation with random Hamiltonian for hσx (t1 + t2 )σy (t1 )i with γ = 0 and ψ2 54
4.117Correlation with random Hamiltonian for hσx (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i with γ = 0 and ψ2 55
4.118Correlation with random Hamiltonian for hσy (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i with γ = 0 and ψ2 55
4.119Correlation with random Hamiltonian for hσx (t1 + t2 )σy (t1 )i with γ = 0 and ψ3 55
4.120Correlation with random Hamiltonian for hσx (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i with γ = 0 and ψ3 55
4.121Correlation with random Hamiltonian for hσy (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i with γ = 0 and ψ3 56
4.122Correlation with random Hamiltonian for hσx (t1 + t2 )σy (t1 )i with γ = 0.5 and
ψ1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
4.123Correlation with random Hamiltonian for hσx (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i with γ = 0.5 and
ψ1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
4.124Correlation with random Hamiltonian for hσy (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i with γ = 0.5 and
ψ1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
4.125Correlation with random Hamiltonian for hσx (t1 + t2 )σy (t1 )i with γ = 0.5 and
ψ2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
4.126Correlation with random Hamiltonian for hσx (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i with γ = 0.5 and
ψ2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
4.127Correlation with random Hamiltonian for hσy (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i with γ = 0.5 and
ψ2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
4.128Correlation with random Hamiltonian for hσx (t1 + t2 )σy (t1 )i with γ = 0.5 and
ψ3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
4.129Correlation with random Hamiltonian for hσx (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i with γ = 0.5 and
ψ3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
4.130Correlation with random Hamiltonian for hσy (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i with γ = 0.5 and
ψ3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
4.131Correlation with random Hamiltonian for hσx (t1 + t2 )σy (t1 )i with γ = 0 and
ψ1 . Uses 4000 timesteps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

xii
Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Perry Rice, for presenting me with this interesting
project, and for many conversations providing me with much more in depth knowledge than
I previously had on the subject. I also thank Dr. Leno Pedrotti, Dr. Samir Bali, and Dr.
Jennifer Blue, for taking the time to read this thesis and offer their insights. Also, I owe
them all gratitude for making my time as a student more educational and enjoyable. There
are many other faculty members who deserve similar thanks. And lastly, I would like to
thank my family because without them, I wouldn’t have been able to do any of this.

xiii
Introduction

With the advent of quantum computing, many of our current cryptographic techniques will
become obsolete. As a result, there are now many people who are making the effort to create
new encryption methods that will be resistant to quantum computers. Chaotic cryptography
is a popular field of research that attempts to use the phenomenon of chaos in the creation
of new cryptographic algorithms.[1]
Chaos theory is a field that pertains to the behavior of dynamical systems which are
sensitive to initial conditions. Chaotic complex systems appear random at first glance, but
there are actually underlying patterns and reliance on the initial conditions. This is better
known as the butterfly effect, where a small change ultimately leads to something seemingly
unrelated down the line. The classic hypothetical example of this is a butterfly flapping its
wings and causing a hurricane on the other side of the world.
These extremely different outcomes from changing conditions make long-term prediction
of behavior impossible. However, these systems are still deterministic, which means their
time evolution will remain unchanged as long as the initial conditions are unchanged. This
is why there is interest in using chaos in encryption; you can’t figure out the original state
from the evolved state, but if you have the initial conditions you can get back to the starting
state.
Chaotic behavior exists in many real world systems, such as weather and road traffic.
This behavior can be studied with a variety of analytical tools such as Poincaré maps,
Lyapunov exponents, and more. Most chaotic systems are predictable at first but become
unpredictable after a certain point in time. The length of time that a chaotic system can be
predicted depends on three factors: uncertainty tolerance, accuracy of measurements, and
the time scale of the system.[2] In chaotic systems, the uncertainty exponentially increases

1
with time.
No universally accepted mathematical definition of chaos exists, but a widely used defi-
nition is these three things[3]

1. it must be sensitive to initial conditions

2. it must be topologically mixing

3. it must have dense periodic orbits

In some cases, properties 2 and 3 imply sensitivity to initial conditions.

Quantum chaos is when a quantum mechanical approach is taken towards chaos theory,
and this paper examines a possible approach to it.

Outline of Thesis
In chapter one, we go through the main theoretical framework of quantum chaos. First
we go over semiclassical chaos and how it represents some of the problems with achieving
quantum chaos. Following that we give the basic premise of the quantum system used in
this paper, which is a spin 1/2 particle in a 3d chaotic magnetic field. Chapter two goes into
more of the details of this system by first discussing the Lorenz chaotic attractor, which we
use as our chaotic magnetic field. Then we discuss the Lindblad Master Equation, which
is the equation that governs the dynamics of our quantum system. Chapter three discusses
experimental parameters and the analytical tools used, namely Lyapunov exponents, Bloch
sphere plots, and correlation functions. Chapter four gives the results, and finally chapter
five discusses our findings.

2
Chapter 1

Quantum Chaos

Quantum chaos consists of a few different ideas. Originally it was mainly the study of
classically chaotic systems viewed through the lens of quantum mechanics which leads to
semiclassical chaos, but now we will see that it’s more interesting to look at chaotically driven
magnetic fields. First we will look at semiclassical chaos and its issues before considering
the system we used for quantum chaos.

1.1 Lie Groups and Algebra

The first step to understanding semiclassical chaos is the math behind it, which consists of Lie
groups and algebra. Lie groups are groups that are differentiable manifolds, and their group
operations are compatible with smooth structure. The relavent groups for our purposes is
the special unitary group SU(n), specifically SU(2) and SU(3). The special unitary groups
are n × n matrices with determinant 1. The algebra for SU(n) is generated by n2 operators
which satisfy this relationship[4]:

h i
Ôij , Ôkl = δjk Ôil − δil Ôkj (1.1)

and the operator

n
X
N̂ = Ôii (1.2)
i=1

3
satisfies

h i
N̂ , Ôij = 0 (1.3)

So the number of independent generators is n2 − 1. SU(n) are differentiable manifolds, so

they can be expanded as a kind of Taylor series around the unit element:

U = exp (igαa (x)T a ) = 1 + igαa (x)T a + . . . (1.4)

In order for U to be unitary, the generators, Ta must be hermitian.

U† = exp −igαa (x)(T a )† = U−1 = exp (−igαa (x)T a )

(1.5)

And using det (eA ) = eTr(A) we see:

det U = 1 ⇔ Tr(T a ) = 0 (1.6)

So in general the infinitesimal generators of SU(n) are represented as traceless hermitian

n × n matrices.

Tr(Ta ) = 0, Ta = Ta† (1.7)

where:

n −1 2
1 1X
Ta Tb = δab In + (ifabc + dabc )Tc (1.8)
2n 2 c=1
where fabc is the antisymmetric structure constant, and d is symmetric. So:

nX−1 2
1
[Ta , Tb ]+ = δab In + dabc Tc (1.9)
n c=1

2 −1
nX
[Ta , Tb ]− = i fabc Tc (1.10)
c=1

And:

4
 2 −1
nX
n2 − 4
dace dbce = δab (1.11)
c,e=1
n

as a normalization convention. The general matrix of SU(2) takes this form:

 
α −β
SU (2) =   : α, β ∈ C, |α|2 + |β|2 = 1 (1.12)
β α
And the Lie algebra for SU(2) is:
  
 ia −z 
su(2) =   : a ∈ R, z ∈ C (1.13)
 z −ia 

One representation of it is given by these matrices:

 
0 i
u1 =   (1.14)
i 0
 
0 −1
u2 =   (1.15)
1 0
 
i 0
u3 =   (1.16)
0 −i
These generators have the relations u1 = iσx , u2 = −iσy , and u3 = iσz to the Pauli
matrices, which gives another representation. Since these generators don’t commute, they’re
a non-Abelian group.

1.2 Semiclassical Chaos

Quantum chaos is the idea of viewing classical chaos through the lens of quantum mechanics.
In practice quantum chaos can be difficult to achieve because of the linearity and unitarity
of quantum mechanics, and this is demonstrated through classic problems like the Kicked
Rotator. The Kicked Rotator is described by the Hamiltonian[5]

5
 ∞
1 2 X
H(p, x, t) = p + K cos(x) δ(t − n) (1.17)
2 n=−∞

Where δ is the Dirac delta function, x is the angular position, p is the momentum, and K is
the kicking strength. Its dynamics are described by the map:

pn+1 = pn + K sin(xn ), xn+1 = xn + pn+1 (1.18)

Classically this shows chaos. Quantum mechanically, we rewrite the Hamiltonian in operator
∂
form, using the substitution p = i~ ∂x to give:

∞
1 ∂2 X
H(x, t) = − + K cos(x) δ(t − n) (1.19)
2 ∂x2 n=−∞

And the wavefunction is solved for:

∂
i~ ψ(t) = Hψ(t) (1.20)
∂t
And at the nth kick can be expanded in terms of the momentum eigenstates as

∞
X
ψ(tn ) = al (tn )|li (1.21)
l=−∞

The coefficients are given recursively by:

∞
X
2
am (tn+1 ) = exp[−im ~/2] (−i)l−m Jl−m (K/~)al (tn ) (1.22)
l=−∞

From here it is straightforward to numerically solve the recursive equation for all time, and
then substitute the coefficients into the momentum eigenstate decomposition in order to
find the total wavefunction. By then squaring the wavefunction, we get the probability
distribution’s time evolution, which gives a complete quantum mechanical description of
the rotator. So there is no chaos, and the same thing happens for other systems. This is
why instead of quantum chaos, we were initially using semiclassical chaos, which combines
classical and quantum mechanics. This particular approach is reliant on some previous work
from Wei and Norman as follows.[6]

6
 Consider a Hamiltonian of the form
X
H= bi (t)Oi (1.23)

where the bi are time dependent coefficicients, and the Oi are a complete set of operators.
And this forms a Lie group and its algebra

X
[Oi , Oj ] = ckij Ok (1.24)

In the case of SU(2) with ~ = 1 we have

[σi , σj ] = ıijk σk (1.25)

From Wei and Norman we know the propagator can be written as:

Y
ai (t)Oi (1.26)

where ai (t) satisfies non-linear equations. And from Wei Norman we also have this, starting
with the Schrödinger equation,

i|ψ̇i = −iH|ψi (1.27)

The time evolution of the wave function is given by some unitary operator U (t), the Wei
Norman propagator

|ψ(t)i = U (t)|ψ(0)i (1.28)

This leads to

U̇ |ψ(0)i = −iH(t)U (t)|ψ)0)i (1.29)

or the equation for the propagator

U̇ U −1 = −iH (1.30)

with the condition that U (0) = 1. Then

7
 n
X i−1
Y n
Y
U̇ = ȧi exp(aj Oj )Oi exp(aj Oj ) (1.31)
i=1 j=1 j=i
n
XY
= ȧi exp(ai [Oi , Oj ]) (1.32)
i=1

And for an Abelian group [Oi , Oj ] = 0 we have

n
X n
Y
U̇ = ȧi Oi exp(aj Oj ) (1.33)
i=1 j=1
Xn
= ȧi Oi U (t) (1.34)
i=1

where we move the Oi to the back. So

n
X X
−1
U̇ U = ȧi Oi = −ıH(t) = −i bi Oi (1.35)
i=1 i
so

ȧi = bi (1.36)

This has the solution

Z t
bi (t) = dt0 ai (t0 ) (1.37)
0

giving

Z t 
0 0
U (t) = exp dt H(t ) (1.38)
0

with b(0) = 0 to preserve U (0) = 1. For non-Abelian groups, this isn’t a solution because
the operators don’t commute.. In that particular instance you use the Baker-Campbell-
Hausdorrf theorem

eX Y e−X = e[X,Y ] Y (1.39)

8
if [X, Y ] is constant. For example we can show that the operator that generates a coherent
state from the vacuum can be written

∗a 2 /2 ∗a
D(α) = e−iα†a eα = e−|α| eα†a+α (1.40)

using [a, a† ] = 1. The commutator is a constant after one iteration. For a Lie algebra, the
BCH theorem is used multiple times and in the end:

~ȧ = M~b (1.41)

or

ȧi = Mij bj (1.42)

where Mij is a function of time. Generally this is nonlinear. We assume here that ȧi describes
a chaotic system. And we then arrive at the time dependent expectation values[7]

hσi (t)i = Tr(ρ0 ) (1.43)

From the quantum regression theorem we get

Tr( ρ0 ) = Trtotal (χ(0)σi (t)σj (t + τ )) (1.44)

and two time correlation functions

Trtotal (χ(0)σi (t)σj (t + τ )) = hσi (t)σj (t + τ )i (1.45)

by calculating Lyaponuv exponents and examining the frequency spectrum.

For example, assume a(t) are solutions to the Lorenz system. There is no chaos because
the initial conditions are ai (0) = 0, which is a fixed point for the Lorenz system. This is how
the unitarity of quantum mechanics is preserved.
Next we assume that bi are chaotic, which would happen for:

~ · ~σ
H = −µB(t) (1.46)

9
In a quantum model, fields satisfy linear equations and there is no chaos. However with a
classical field produced by a chaotic current, we could achieve semiclassical chaos.

1.3 Quantum Chaos through a Hamiltonian

Since there have already been numerous studies on semiclassical chaos, so we decided to
instead look at the time evolution of a two level spin 1/2 atom in a chaotic magnetic field.
For this we simply define the Hamiltonian as

H = xσx + yσy + zσz (1.47)

where x, y, and z are determined by the Lorenz and the time evolution is governed by the
Lindblad Master Equation. By using the Hamiltonian to define the system and using it
with the Lindblad Master Equation, we were initially thinking the unitarity of quantum
mechanics no longer comes into play and we can get true quantum chaos. However, we later
realized that it still does matter for hσi i, but not for hψ1 |σi | ψ2 i where one of the ψ’s has a
collapse operator and the other doesn’t. It also doesn’t matter for correlations.

10
Chapter 2

Chaotic Magnetic Fields

2.1 Lorenz System

The Lorenz system is a system of ordinary differential equations which are defined as[8]

dx
= σ(y − x) (2.1)
dt

dy
= x(ρ − z) − y (2.2)
dt

dz
= xy − βz (2.3)
dt
where σ, ρ, and β are system parameters. The most commonly used values for them are
10, 28, and 8/3 respectively. At these and nearby parameters, the system displays chaos
and revolves around two points or attractors. The equations were first studied by Edward
Lorenz, meteorologist working for MIT in 1960. He developed them as part of a model for
nonlinear thermal convection, and soon afterward noticed that they display chaos.[9] One
particularly notable thing about this system is the relation to the Maxwell-Bloch equations.
The Bloch equations are linear equations describe the behavior of atoms which are coupled
to a laser field. The equations don’t usually predict chaotic behavior, but chaotic regions do
appear when using strongly coupled AC components. So by bringing in an electromagnetic
field to interact with the atoms, chaos becomes much more readily apparent. For this reason,

11
the Bloch equations are often combined with the Maxwell equations to create the Maxwell-
Bloch equations. In this model the Maxwell equations are assumed to be resonantly coupled
to the two level atoms, and the field is expanded in cavity modes where the lowest unstable
mode is kept.[10] The resulting set of equations is

dP
= −γ⊥ P + gEδ (2.4)
dt

dδ
= −γk (δ − δ0 ) − gP E (2.5)
dt

dE
= gp − kE (2.6)
dt
where E is the field amplitude, P is the collective polarization, and δ is the population
inversion.[10] As can be seen, the equations are mathematically equivalent to the Lorenz
equations, only with different variables. This allows us to use the Lorenz system as a chaotic
magnetic field in this paper.
The Lorenz system is only chaotic for certain parameters, so its useful to look at some
different parameters to see how the system changes. Specifically, this paper examines the
effect of changing ρ, so here are examples with ρ = 0.5, 10, 12, 16, 20, 24.4, 28, and 100.
The system is plotted from t = 0 to t = 100 in 10000 steps.

Figure 2.1: Lorenz with σ = 10, ρ = 0.5, β = 8/3

12
Figure 2.2: Lorenz with σ = 10, ρ = 10, β = 8/3

Figure 2.3: Lorenz with σ = 10, ρ = 12, β = 8/3

13
Figure 2.4: Lorenz with σ = 10, ρ = 16, β = 8/3

Figure 2.5: Lorenz with σ = 10, ρ = 20, β = 8/3

14
Figure 2.6: Lorenz with σ = 10, ρ = 24.4, β = 8/3

Figure 2.7: Lorenz with σ = 10, ρ = 28, β = 8/3

15
 Figure 2.8: Lorenz with σ = 10, ρ = 100, β = 8/3

As can be seen from these graphs, the famous chaotic attractor appears in the plots with
ρ = 24.4 and 28. These are some of the parameters used in testing, alongside ρ = 0.5 and
10 for the sake of comparison.

2.2 Lindblad Master Equation

Besides having a chaotic magnetic field to drive the system, there needs to be something
that governs the time evolution of the system. For this we used QuTiP’s (a Python pack-
age for simulating quantum systems) mesolve function, which uses the Lindblad Master
Equation.[11] To get to how QuTiP uses it, we’ll start with the Schrödinger equation, which
guides the dynamics of a closed quantum system. The equation is of course

∂
i~ Ψ = ĤΨ, (2.7)
∂t
where Ψ is the wave function, Ĥ is the Hamiltonian, and ~ is Planck’s constant. This
generally is a partial differential equation where Ψ and Ĥ are functions of space and time.[11]

16
This is only for closed quantum systems though, and what we have is an open quantum
system. So to get to something usable takes a few steps.
First, the equation is written in matrix and vector form, so that the PDE can be expanded
to a set of basis functions that span the Hamiltonian’s Hilbert space.

d
i~ |ψi = H |ψi (2.8)
dt
where |ψi is the state vector and H is the Hamiltonian’s matrix representation. This equa-
tion can be solved by diagonalizing H, but it is difficult to do this if the Hilbert space is
small. It’s a very difficult task to analytically calculate the dynamics of systems that have
over two states. The complexity grows even more once considering the interaction with an
environment, so realistically the only way to do it is numerical calculations.[11]
Closed quantum systems have deterministic evolution for the state vector, but open quan-
tum systems are random. This is because the environment causes random changes between
energy levels and brings uncertainty to the phase difference between system states. So
open quantum systems are best described using density matrices for ensemble averaged
states. Density matrices give the probability distribution of quantum states, and in this
paper we will use ρ to represent such matrices. And if a single quantum state is |ψn i, then
ρ = Σn pn |ψn i hψn |, where pn is the probability that the system is in |ψn i.[11]
After expanding an open quantum system to include the environment, the open system
effectively becomes closed, and its evolution is governed by the von Neumann equation, the
density matrix equivalent of the Schrödinger equation. This is

i
ρ̇tot (t) = − [Htot , ρtot (t)], (2.9)
~
where the total Hamiltonian

Htot = Hsys + Henv + Hint , (2.10)

includes the original system Hamiltonian Hsys , the Hamiltonian for the environment Henv ,
and a term representing the interaction between the system and its environment Hint .[11]
Only the dynamics of the system matter to us, so we just do a partial trace over the en-

17
vironmental degrees of freedom in Eq. (2.9), and obtain an equation for the motion of the
original system density matrix. This finally brings us to the Lindblad Master Equation, the
most general trace-preserving and completely positive form of this evolution for the reduced
density matrix ρ = Trenv [ρtot ].

i X1
2Cn ρ(t)Cn+ − ρ(t)Cn+ Cn − Cn+ Cn ρ(t)

ρ̇(t) = − [H(t), ρ(t)] + (2.11)
~ n
2
√
where the Cn = γn An are collapse operators, and An are the operators through which the
environment couples to the system in Hint , and γn are the corresponding rates.
QuTiP emphasizes the necessary approximations to derive the master equation in this
form, so that it can do the calculations.[11] These approximations are separability, the Born
approximation, the Markov approximation, and the rotating wave approximation. Separabil-
ity assumes that at t = 0 there are no correlations between the system and its environment.
The Born approximation requires that the environment effectively remains unchanged and
that the system and environment remain separable. The Markov approximation assumes
that the decay of the environment has a much smaller time scale than the dynamics of
the system. The rotating wave approximation means that all fast rotating terms can be
neglected.[11] These assumptions create a system where the environment affects the system
but the system does not affect the environment, akin to an ice cube in a warm pool. For
systems with environments satisfying these conditions, the Lindblad master equation governs
the system density matrix’s time evolution.
The mesolve function, which uses the Lindblad equation, is used in this paper to calculate
the x, y, and z components of hσi i. All that’s needed is the Hamiltonian, the initial |ψn i hψn |,
the collapse operator, and the matrix for which it’s finding expectation values. In this case
the matrices are the Pauli matrices σx , σy , and σz .

18
Chapter 3

Methodology

3.1 Test Parameters

There were a few different parameters we used for this experiment: gamma decay rate, ψ(0),
and the Lorenz parameters. The gamma decay rate is used
 in the collapse operator for the
√ 0 0
mesolve function of the form γσ− where σ− = 2  , and we used γ = 0 and γ = 0.5.
0 1
We used a variety of Lorenz parameters, but ended up focusing on ρ values of 0.5, 10, 24.4,
and 28 to compare
  chaoticandnon-chaotic 
parameters.For ψ(0), three main matrices were
1 0 0.7071
used: ψ1 =  , ψ2 =  , and ψ3 =  . We also used randomly generated
0 1 0.7071i
numbers with the random package in Python in place of what is generated by the Lorenz
system for the sake of comparison.

3.2 Analytical Tools

There are three main analytical tools used in this paper: Lyapunov exponents, correlation
functions, and plots of the Bloch sphere. These tools were used for the purposes of evaluating
the different parameters and determining if there was resulting chaos. Correlation functions
in particular are a newly popular method of determining if chaos is present.

19
3.2.1 Lyapunov

Lyapunov characteristic exponents system are a measure of exponential divergence from ini-
tial conditions. tthere is a spectrum of Lyapunov exponents for every system, and the largest
one is called the maximal Lyapunov exponent. A positive maximal Lyapunov exponent nor-
mally means that the system is chaotic. The Lyapunov spectrum and thus the maximal
Lyapunov exponent can be calculated using[12]

n−1
1X
λ(x0 ) = lim ln |f 0 (xi )| (3.1)
n→∞ n
i=0

In this paper, Lyapunov exponents are calculated for the values of hσi i generated by
QuTiP’s mesolve function.

Figure 3.1: Lyapunov exponents showing Figure 3.2: Lyapunov exponents showing
chaos no chaos

3.2.2 Bloch Sphere

The Bloch sphere is a representation of the state space of a two-level quantum system. It
is a unit 2 sphere, where oppositely placed points correspond to mutually orthogonal state
vectors. The north pole corresponds to the ground state and the south pole corresponds to
the excited state.[13] By plotting ψ(t) onto the sphere, we obtain a visual of the system’s
dynamic behavior and a possible indication of chaos if it rapidly becomes ergodic (the points

20
being distributed all around the sphere). However, even non-chaotic systems can show an
ergodic distribution over time so it’s not a flawless indication. To plot ψ(t) onto the Bloch
sphere, the x, y, and z components of hσi i were calculated, and the resulting vector points
in the direction of ψ.

Figure 3.4: Bloch sphere showing no

Figure 3.3: Bloch sphere showing chaos
chaos

3.2.3 Correlations

A correlation function gives the statistical correlation between variables, contingent on the
spatial or temporal difference between those variables. Correlation functions of different
variables are called cross-correlation functions, and this is the kind of correlation function
used in this paper. They are a good indicator of dependencies as a function of distance in
time or space, and as such can demonstrate chaos.[14] Chaos is indicated by the final plots
being mixed.
The QuTiP correlation functions use the mesolve function to solve the system and give re-
sults of the form hA(t1 + t2 )B(t1 )i.[15] In particular, we solve for hσx (t1 + t2 )σy (t1 )i, hσx (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i,

21
and hσy (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i. Correlation values of +1 indicate perfect correlation, -1 indicates
perfect anti-correlation, and 0 indicates no correlation.

Figure 3.5: Correlation showing chaos Figure 3.6: Correlation showing no chaos

22
Chapter 4

Results

For the 
captions
 in this chapter:
  
1 0 0.7071
ψ1 =  , ψ2 =  , ψ3 =  
0 1 0.7071i
Additionally, all Lyapunov and Bloch sphere plots were from t = 0 to t = 100 in 10000
steps, making for a step size of 0.01. The two sets of initial conditions for x, y, and z are [1,
1, 1] and [1, 1.001, 1]. There were some additional Bloch sphere plots created with t = 10000
in 1000000 steps to compare the difference due to time. Correlation plots were from t = 0
to t = 50 in 250 steps because increasing the number of steps exponentially increased the
time needed to generate them. And the collapse operator is something that resets |ψi to the
ground state |0i, which introduces noise. The Lorenz parameters with ρ = 0.5 and ρ = 10
are non-chaotic and the parameters with ρ = 24.4 and ρ = 28 are chaotic. We also generated
some correlations with smaller step sizes.
One other thing to note is that there was a mistake in creating the titles for the correlation
plots. This mistake is corrected in the captions because the graphs could not be edited.

23
4.1 Lyapunovs for σi(t)

4.1.1 No Collapse Operator

Figure 4.1: Lyapunov exponents for ρ = Figure 4.2: Lyapunov exponents for ρ =
28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and
ψ1 ψ2

Figure 4.3: Lyapunov exponents for ρ = Figure 4.4: Lyapunov exponents for ρ =
28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and 0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and
ψ3 ψ1

24
Figure 4.5: Lyapunov exponents for ρ = Figure 4.6: Lyapunov exponents for ρ =
0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and 0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and
ψ2 ψ3

4.1.2 Collapse Operator

Figure 4.7: Lyapunov exponents for ρ = Figure 4.8: Lyapunov exponents for ρ =
28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5 and 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5 and
ψ1 ψ2

25
Figure 4.9: Lyapunov exponents for ρ = Figure 4.10: Lyapunov exponents for ρ =
28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5 and 0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5
ψ3 and ψ1

Figure 4.11: Lyapunov exponents for ρ = Figure 4.12: Lyapunov exponents for ρ =
0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5 0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5
and ψ2 and ψ3

26
4.2 Bloch Sphere

4.2.1 No Collapse Operator

Figure 4.13: Bloch sphere Figure 4.14: Bloch sphere

for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and
β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and
ψ1 ψ2

Figure 4.15: Bloch sphere

Figure 4.16: Bloch sphere
for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and
for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and
β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and
β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and ψ1
ψ3

27
Figure 4.17: Bloch sphere for Figure 4.18: Bloch sphere for
ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3
with γ = 0 and ψ2 with γ = 0 and ψ3

4.2.2 Collapse Operator

Figure 4.19: Bloch sphere for Figure 4.20: Bloch sphere for
ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3
with γ = 0.5 and ψ1 with γ = 0.5 and ψ2

28
Figure 4.21: Bloch sphere for Figure 4.22: Bloch sphere for
ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3
with γ = 0.5 and ψ3 with γ = 0.5 and ψ1

Figure 4.23: Bloch sphere for Figure 4.24: Bloch sphere for
ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3
with γ = 0.5 and ψ2 with γ = 0.5 and ψ3

29
4.2.3 Longer Time

Figure 4.25: Bloch sphere for ρ = 28, Figure 4.26: Bloch sphere for ρ =
σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and 0.5, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 with γ = 0
ψ1 . This is out to t = 10000 and ψ3 . This is out to t = 10000

30
4.3 Correlations

4.3.1 No Collapse Operator

Figure 4.27: Correlation of hσx (t1 + Figure 4.28: Correlation of hσx (t1 +
t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and
β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and ψ1 β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and ψ1

Figure 4.29: Correlation of hσy (t1 + Figure 4.30: Correlation of hσx (t1 +
t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 10, σ = 10, and β = 8/3
β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and ψ1 with γ = 0 and ψ1

31
Figure 4.31: Correlation of hσx (t1 + Figure 4.32: Correlation of hσy (t1 +
t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 10, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 10, σ = 10, and β = 8/3
with γ = 0 and ψ1 with γ = 0 and ψ1

Figure 4.33: Correlation of hσx (t1 + Figure 4.34: Correlation of hσx (t1 +
t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 24.4, σ = 10, and t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 24.4, σ = 10, and
β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and ψ1 β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and ψ1

32
Figure 4.35: Correlation of hσy (t1 + Figure 4.36: Correlation of hσx (t1 +
t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 24.4, σ = 10, and t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3
β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and ψ1 with γ = 0 and ψ1

Figure 4.37: Correlation of hσx (t1 + Figure 4.38: Correlation of hσy (t1 +
t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3
with γ = 0 and ψ1 with γ = 0 and ψ1

33
Figure 4.39: Correlation of hσx (t1 + Figure 4.40: Correlation of hσx (t1 +
t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and
β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and ψ2 β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and ψ2

Figure 4.41: Correlation of hσy (t1 + Figure 4.42: Correlation of hσx (t1 +
t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 10, σ = 10, and β = 8/3
β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and ψ2 with γ = 0 and ψ2

34
Figure 4.43: Correlation of hσx (t1 + Figure 4.44: Correlation of hσy (t1 +
t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 10, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 10, σ = 10, and β = 8/3
with γ = 0 and ψ2 with γ = 0 and ψ2

Figure 4.45: Correlation of hσx (t1 + Figure 4.46: Correlation of hσx (t1 +
t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 24.4, σ = 10, and t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 24.4, σ = 10, and
β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and ψ2 β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and ψ2

35
Figure 4.47: Correlation of hσy (t1 + Figure 4.48: Correlation of hσx (t1 +
t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 24.4, σ = 10, and t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3
β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and ψ2 with γ = 0 and ψ2

Figure 4.49: Correlation of hσx (t1 + Figure 4.50: Correlation of hσy (t1 +
t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3
with γ = 0 and ψ2 with γ = 0 and ψ2

36
Figure 4.51: Correlation of hσx (t1 + Figure 4.52: Correlation of hσx (t1 +
t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and
β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and ψ3 β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and ψ3

Figure 4.53: Correlation of hσy (t1 + Figure 4.54: Correlation of hσx (t1 +
t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 10, σ = 10, and β = 8/3
β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and ψ3 with γ = 0 and ψ3

37
Figure 4.55: Correlation of hσx (t1 + Figure 4.56: Correlation of hσy (t1 +
t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 10, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 10, σ = 10, and β = 8/3
with γ = 0 and ψ3 with γ = 0 and ψ3

Figure 4.57: Correlation of hσx (t1 + Figure 4.58: Correlation of hσx (t1 +
t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 24.4, σ = 10, and t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 24.4, σ = 10, and
β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and ψ3 β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and ψ3

38
Figure 4.59: Correlation of hσy (t1 + Figure 4.60: Correlation of hσx (t1 +
t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 24.4, σ = 10, and t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3
β = 8/3 with γ = 0 and ψ3 with γ = 0 and ψ3

Figure 4.61: Correlation of hσx (t1 + Figure 4.62: Correlation of hσy (t1 +
t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3
with γ = 0 and ψ3 with γ = 0 and ψ3

39
4.3.2 Collapse Operator

Figure 4.63: Correlation of hσx (t1 + Figure 4.64: Correlation of hσx (t1 +
t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and
β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5 and ψ1 β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5 and ψ1

Figure 4.65: Correlation of hσy (t1 + Figure 4.66: Correlation of hσx (t1 +
t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 10, σ = 10, and β = 8/3
β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5 and ψ1 with γ = 0.5 and ψ1

40
Figure 4.67: Correlation of hσx (t1 + Figure 4.68: Correlation of hσy (t1 +
t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 10, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 10, σ = 10, and β = 8/3
with γ = 0.5 and ψ1 with γ = 0.5 and ψ1

Figure 4.69: Correlation of hσx (t1 + Figure 4.70: Correlation of hσx (t1 +
t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 24.4, σ = 10, and t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 24.4, σ = 10, and
β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5 and ψ1 β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5 and ψ1

41
Figure 4.71: Correlation of hσy (t1 + Figure 4.72: Correlation of hσx (t1 +
t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 24.4, σ = 10, and t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3
β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5 and ψ1 with γ = 0.5 and ψ1

Figure 4.73: Correlation of hσx (t1 + Figure 4.74: Correlation of hσy (t1 +
t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3
with γ = 0.5 and ψ1 with γ = 0.5 and ψ1

42
Figure 4.75: Correlation of hσx (t1 + Figure 4.76: Correlation of hσx (t1 +
t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and
β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5 and ψ2 β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5 and ψ2

Figure 4.77: Correlation of hσy (t1 + Figure 4.78: Correlation of hσx (t1 +
t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 10, σ = 10, and β = 8/3
β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5 and ψ2 with γ = 0.5 and ψ2

43
Figure 4.79: Correlation of hσx (t1 + Figure 4.80: Correlation of hσy (t1 +
t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 10, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 10, σ = 10, and β = 8/3
with γ = 0.5 and ψ2 with γ = 0.5 and ψ2

Figure 4.81: Correlation of hσx (t1 + Figure 4.82: Correlation of hσx (t1 +
t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 24.4, σ = 10, and t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 24.4, σ = 10, and
β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5 and ψ2 β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5 and ψ2

44
Figure 4.83: Correlation of hσy (t1 + Figure 4.84: Correlation of hσx (t1 +
t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 24.4, σ = 10, and t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3
β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5 and ψ2 with γ = 0.5 and ψ2

Figure 4.85: Correlation of hσx (t1 + Figure 4.86: Correlation of hσy (t1 +
t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3
with γ = 0.5 and ψ2 with γ = 0.5 and ψ2

45
Figure 4.87: Correlation of hσx (t1 + Figure 4.88: Correlation of hσx (t1 +
t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and
β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5 and ψ3 β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5 and ψ3

Figure 4.89: Correlation of hσy (t1 + Figure 4.90: Correlation of hσx (t1 +
t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 0.5, σ = 10, and t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 10, σ = 10, and β = 8/3
β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5 and ψ3 with γ = 0.5 and ψ3

46
Figure 4.91: Correlation of hσx (t1 + Figure 4.92: Correlation of hσy (t1 +
t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 10, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 10, σ = 10, and β = 8/3
with γ = 0.5 and ψ3 with γ = 0.5 and ψ3

Figure 4.93: Correlation of hσx (t1 + Figure 4.94: Correlation of hσx (t1 +
t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 24.4, σ = 10, and t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 24.4, σ = 10, and
β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5 and ψ3 β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5 and ψ3

47
Figure 4.95: Correlation of hσy (t1 + Figure 4.96: Correlation of hσx (t1 +
t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 24.4, σ = 10, and t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3
β = 8/3 with γ = 0.5 and ψ3 with γ = 0.5 and ψ3

Figure 4.97: Correlation of hσx (t1 + Figure 4.98: Correlation of hσy (t1 +
t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 t2 )σz (t1 )i for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3
with γ = 0.5 and ψ3 with γ = 0.5 and ψ3

48
4.3.3 More Time Steps

This correlation used more timesteps while not going as far out in time as the others. The
purpose is to see what effect step size has on the apparent chaos. A graph of Lyapunovs for
the Lorenz system is also provided to see the level of chaos in the driving magnetic field.

Figure 4.99: Correlation of hσx (t1 + Figure 4.100: Lyapunovs the Lorenz sys-
t2 )σy (t1 )i for ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3 tem with ρ = 28, σ = 10, and β = 8/3
with γ = 0 and ψ1 . Uses 5000 timesteps. and 25000 steps

49
4.4 Lyapunovs for σi((t) With a Random Hamiltonian

4.4.1 No Collapse Operator

Figure 4.101: Lyapunovs for random Figure 4.102: Lyapunovs for random
Hamiltonian with γ = 0 and ψ1 Hamiltonian with γ = 0 and ψ2

Figure 4.103: Lyapunovs for random

Hamiltonian with γ = 0 and ψ3

50
4.4.2 Collapse Operator

Figure 4.104: Lyapunovs for random Figure 4.105: Lyapunovs for random
Hamiltonian with γ = 0.5 and ψ1 Hamiltonian with γ = 0.5 and ψ2

Figure 4.106: Lyapunovs for random

Hamiltonian with γ = 0.5 and ψ3

51
4.5 Bloch Sphere With a Random Hamiltonian

4.5.1 No Collapse Operator

Figure 4.107: Bloch sphere Figure 4.108: Bloch sphere

for random Hamiltonian for random Hamiltonian
with γ = 0 and ψ1 with γ = 0 and ψ2

Figure 4.109: Bloch sphere

for random Hamiltonian
with γ = 0 and ψ3

52
4.5.2 Collapse Operator

Figure 4.110: Bloch sphere for Figure 4.111: Bloch sphere for
random Hamiltonian with γ = random Hamiltonian with γ =
0.5 and ψ1 0.5 and ψ2

Figure 4.112: Bloch sphere for

random Hamiltonian with γ =
0.5 and ψ3

53
4.6 Correlations With a Random Hamiltonian

4.6.1 No Collapse Operator

Figure 4.113: Correlation with random Figure 4.114: Correlation with random
Hamiltonian for hσx (t1 + t2 )σy (t1 )i with Hamiltonian for hσx (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i with
γ = 0 and ψ1 γ = 0 and ψ1

Figure 4.115: Correlation with random Figure 4.116: Correlation with random
Hamiltonian for hσy (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i with Hamiltonian for hσx (t1 + t2 )σy (t1 )i with
γ = 0 and ψ1 γ = 0 and ψ2

54
Figure 4.117: Correlation with random Figure 4.118: Correlation with random
Hamiltonian for hσx (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i with Hamiltonian for hσy (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i with
γ = 0 and ψ2 γ = 0 and ψ2

Figure 4.119: Correlation with random Figure 4.120: Correlation with random
Hamiltonian for hσx (t1 + t2 )σy (t1 )i with Hamiltonian for hσx (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i with
γ = 0 and ψ3 γ = 0 and ψ3

55
 Figure 4.121: Correlation with random
Hamiltonian for hσy (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i with
γ = 0 and ψ3

4.6.2 Collapse Operator

Figure 4.122: Correlation with random Figure 4.123: Correlation with random
Hamiltonian for hσx (t1 + t2 )σy (t1 )i with Hamiltonian for hσx (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i with
γ = 0.5 and ψ1 γ = 0.5 and ψ1

56
Figure 4.124: Correlation with random Figure 4.125: Correlation with random
Hamiltonian for hσy (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i with Hamiltonian for hσx (t1 + t2 )σy (t1 )i with
γ = 0.5 and ψ1 γ = 0.5 and ψ2

Figure 4.126: Correlation with random Figure 4.127: Correlation with random
Hamiltonian for hσx (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i with Hamiltonian for hσy (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i with
γ = 0.5 and ψ2 γ = 0.5 and ψ2

57
Figure 4.128: Correlation with random Figure 4.129: Correlation with random
Hamiltonian for hσx (t1 + t2 )σy (t1 )i with Hamiltonian for hσx (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i with
γ = 0.5 and ψ3 γ = 0.5 and ψ3

Figure 4.130: Correlation with random

Hamiltonian for hσy (t1 + t2 )σz (t1 )i with
γ = 0.5 and ψ3

58
4.6.3 More Time Steps

Once again a plot with more timesteps was done for comparison.

Figure 4.131: Correlation with random Hamiltonian for

hσx (t1 + t2 )σy (t1 )i with γ = 0 and ψ1 . Uses 4000 timesteps.

59
Chapter 5

Conclusions

None of the Lyapunov graphs seem to indicate chaos because they don’t go above 0, which
in retrospect is expected because quantum mechanics is unitary. The graphs using a collapse
operator have even lower lower Lyapunovs than the ones without damping, but it still doesn’t
change change the fact that nothing shows chaos. The plots with random Hamiltonians had
the highest Lyapunovs, but they were all still negative. So unfortunately that part didn’t
yield any interesting results.
The Bloch spheres are a bit harder to interpret, but they also don’t quite indicate chaos.
Initially when we were plotting them, they became ergodic after a long enough period of
time, but then it was noticed that the time step had accidentally been changed when taking
to longer times. After changing the time step back to 0.01, the ergodicity disappeared and
the plots were all similar even at far out times. As can be seen from the plots with longer
time, there were still significant empty areas which is not what is expected if chaos is present.
It’s possible that the spheres would eventually be covered, but only after a very long time.
The correlation functions are where we found something potentially interesting, which
makes sense because they aren’t unitary. Most of the correlations using the Lorenz system
at 250 steps and no gamma decay indicate chaos. The ones using gamma decay did not show
much chaos, which is expected. The correlations using randomly generated numbers do not
display nearly the same level of chaos as the correlations with chaotic Lorenz parameters,
so there does appear to be a benefit to using the Lorenz system for scrambling information.
However, the chaos did disappear when using more timesteps, which carries a few possible

60
explanations. It might be that the system doesn’t work for creating chaos, but another has
to do with the Lorenz system. Even with known chaotic parameters, the Lorenz attractor
doesn’t immediately go to chaos and takes some amount of time for the Lyapunov exponents
to become positive. The graph with a smaller step size only goes to t = 20, which is still
before the point in time where the Lorenz system becomes chaotic with that step size. This
leaves open the possibility that the correlations would eventually show chaos with that step
size, but going out that far in time took too long for us to be able to generate. So just from
these correlations, there may be something that merits further investigation.
For future work, there is not only potential in exploring correlations but also in hψ1 |σi | ψ2 i
where one of the |ψi’s has a collapse operator and the other doesn’t. Correlations aren’t
unitary and the other has sensitivity to noise. That being said, future correlation plots should
use more time steps and go farther out in time to get a clearer, more accurate picture. We
had to use fewer steps or not go out as far in time due to time constraints on completing the
project. Besides all that, a spin 1 system has a good chance of being more interesting than
spin 1/2 due to increased complexity.

61
Appendix A

Code for Lorenz Plots and Lyapunovs

import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from scipy.integrate import odeint
from mpl_toolkits.mplot3d import Axes3D
from qutip import *

rho = 28
sigma = 10.0
beta = 8.0 / 3.0

def f(state, t):

x, y, z = state
return sigma * (y - x), x * (rho - z) - y, x * y - beta * z

state0 = [1.0, 1.0, 1.0]

t = np.linspace(0.0, 100.0, 10000)

states = odeint(f, state0, t)

62
datalx = states[:,0]
dataly = states[:,1]
datalz = states[:,2]

fig = plt.figure()
ax = fig.gca(projection=’3d’)
ax.plot(states[:,0], states[:,1], states[:,2])
plt.show()

state02 = [1.0, 1.001, 1.0]

states2 = odeint(f, state02, t)

datalx2 = states2[:,0]
dataly2 = states2[:,1]
datalz2 = states2[:,2]

difflx = np.empty([0])
diffly = np.empty([0])
difflz = np.empty([0])
lyapunovlx = np.empty([0])
lyapunovly = np.empty([0])
lyapunovlz = np.empty([0])

for n in range(0, len(t)-1):

difflx = np.append(difflx, [datalx[n] - datalx2[n]])
diffly = np.append(diffly, [dataly[n] - dataly2[n]])
difflz = np.append(difflz, [datalz[n] - datalz2[n]])

difflxl = np.log(np.abs(difflx))

63
difflyl = np.log(np.abs(diffly))
difflzl = np.log(np.abs(difflz))

for n in range(1, len(t)+1):

lyapunovlx = np.append(lyapunovlx, [sum(difflxl[1:n])/n])
lyapunovly = np.append(lyapunovly, [sum(difflyl[1:n])/n])
lyapunovlz = np.append(lyapunovlz, [sum(difflzl[1:n])/n])

plt.plot(t, lyapunovlx, ’r’)

plt.plot(t, lyapunovly, ’b’)
plt.plot(t, lyapunovlz, ’g’)
plt.title(’Lyapunovs for Lorenz’)
plt.xlabel(’Time’)
plt.ylabel(’Lyapunov’)
plt.show()

psi = Qobj([[.7071], [.7071*1j]])

sigxsu2 = Qobj([[0,1], [1,0]])

sigysu2 = Qobj([[0,1j], [-1j,0]])
sigzsu2 = Qobj([[1,0], [0,-1]])
sigminus = 2*Qobj([[0,0], [1,0]])

gamma = 0.5
rho = psi*psi.dag()

H1 = sigxsu2
H2 = sigysu2
H3 = sigzsu2

64
def H1_coeff(t, args):
return datalx[t]

def H2_coeff(t, args):

return dataly[t]

def H3_coeff(t, args):

return datalz[t]

def H1_coeff2(t, args):

return datalx2[t]

def H2_coeff2(t, args):

return dataly2[t]

def H3_coeff2(t, args):

return datalz2[t]

H = [[H1, H1_coeff], [H2, H2_coeff], [H3, H3_coeff]]

H2 = [[H1, H1_coeff2], [H2, H2_coeff2], [H3, H3_coeff2]]

sigxd = mesolve(H, rho, t, [np.sqrt(gamma)*sigminus], sigxsu2)

sigyd = mesolve(H, rho, t, [np.sqrt(gamma)*sigminus], sigysu2)
sigzd = mesolve(H, rho, t, [np.sqrt(gamma)*sigminus], sigzsu2)

sigxd2 = mesolve(H2, rho, t, [np.sqrt(gamma)*sigminus], sigxsu2)

sigyd2 = mesolve(H2, rho, t, [np.sqrt(gamma)*sigminus], sigysu2)
sigzd2 = mesolve(H2, rho, t, [np.sqrt(gamma)*sigminus], sigzsu2)

diffsigxd = np.empty([0])

65
diffsigyd = np.empty([0])
diffsigzd = np.empty([0])
lyapunovsigxd = np.empty([0])
lyapunovsigyd = np.empty([0])
lyapunovsigzd = np.empty([0])

for n in range(0, len(t)-1):

diffsigxd = np.append(diffsigxd, [sigxd.expect[0][n] - sigxd2.expect[0][
,→ n]])
diffsigyd = np.append(diffsigyd, [sigyd.expect[0][n] - sigyd2.expect[0][
,→ n]])
diffsigzd = np.append(diffsigzd, [sigzd.expect[0][n] - sigzd2.expect[0][
,→ n]])

diffsigxdl = np.log(np.abs(diffsigxd))
diffsigydl = np.log(np.abs(diffsigyd))
diffsigzdl = np.log(np.abs(diffsigzd))

for n in range(1, len(t)+1):

lyapunovsigxd = np.append(lyapunovsigxd, [sum(diffsigxdl[1:n])/n])
lyapunovsigyd = np.append(lyapunovsigyd, [sum(diffsigydl[1:n])/n])
lyapunovsigzd = np.append(lyapunovsigzd, [sum(diffsigzdl[1:n])/n])

plt.plot(t, sigxd.expect[0], ’r’)

plt.plot(t, sigyd.expect[0], ’b’)
plt.plot(t, sigzd.expect[0], ’g’)
plt.title(r’$\langle \sigma_i \rangle$’)
plt.xlabel(’Time’)
plt.ylabel(r’$\sigma$’)
plt.show()

66
plt.plot(t, lyapunovsigxd, ’r’)
plt.plot(t, lyapunovsigyd, ’b’)
plt.plot(t, lyapunovsigzd, ’g’)
plt.title(r’Lyapunovs for $\langle \sigma_i \rangle$’)
plt.xlabel(’Time’)
plt.ylabel(’Lyapunov’)
plt.show()

sigxfft = np.fft.fft(sigxd.expect[0])
sigyfft = np.fft.fft(sigyd.expect[0])
sigzfft = np.fft.fft(sigzd.expect[0])

plt.plot(t, sigxfft, ’r’)

plt.plot(t, sigyfft, ’b’)
plt.plot(t, sigzfft, ’g’)
plt.title(’Fast Fourier Transform’)
plt.xlabel(’Frequency’)
plt.ylabel(r’$\sigma$’)
plt.show()

67
Appendix B

Code for Correlations

import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from scipy.integrate import odeint
from qutip import *

rho = 28
sigma = 10.0
beta = 8.0 / 3.0

def f(state, t):

x, y, z = state
return sigma * (y - x), x * (rho - z) - y, x * y - beta * z

state0 = [1.0, 1.0, 1.0]

t = np.linspace(0.0, 50.0, 250)

states = odeint(f, state0, t)

datalx = states[:,0]

68
dataly = states[:,1]
datalz = states[:,2]

psi = Qobj([[1], [0]])

sigxsu2 = Qobj([[0,1], [1,0]])

sigysu2 = Qobj([[0,1j], [-1j,0]])
sigzsu2 = Qobj([[1,0], [0,-1]])
sigminus = 2*Qobj([[0,0], [1,0]])

gamma = 0
rho = psi*psi.dag()

H1 = sigxsu2
H2 = sigysu2
H3 = sigzsu2

def H1_coeff(t, args):

return datalx[t]

def H2_coeff(t, args):

return dataly[t]

def H3_coeff(t, args):

return datalz[t]

H = [[H1, H1_coeff], [H2, H2_coeff], [H3, H3_coeff]]

corrxx = correlation_2op_2t(H, rho, t, t, [np.sqrt(gamma)*sigminus], sigxsu2

,→ , sigxsu2)

69
plt.pcolor(np.real(corrxx))
plt.title(r’Correlation for $\langle \sigma_x(t) \sigma_x(t) \rangle$’)
plt.xlabel(r’$t_2$’)
plt.ylabel(r’$t_1$’)
plt.axis([0, 50, 0, 50])
plt.colorbar()
plt.show()

corrxy = correlation_2op_2t(H, rho, t, t, [np.sqrt(gamma)*sigminus], sigxsu2

,→ , sigysu2)

plt.pcolor(np.real(corrxy))
plt.title(r’Correlation for $\langle \sigma_x(t) \sigma_y(t) \rangle$’)
plt.xlabel(r’$t_2$’)
plt.ylabel(r’$t_1$’)
plt.axis([0, 50, 0, 50])
plt.colorbar()
plt.show()

corrxz = correlation_2op_2t(H, rho, t, t, [np.sqrt(gamma)*sigminus], sigxsu2

,→ , sigzsu2)

plt.pcolor(np.real(corrxz))
plt.title(r’Correlation for $\langle \sigma_x(t) \sigma_z(t) \rangle$’)
plt.xlabel(r’$t_2$’)
plt.ylabel(r’$t_1$’)
plt.axis([0, 50, 0, 50])
plt.colorbar()
plt.show()

70
corryy = correlation_2op_2t(H, rho, t, t, [np.sqrt(gamma)*sigminus], sigysu2
,→ , sigysu2)

plt.pcolor(np.real(corryy))
plt.title(r’Correlation for $\langle \sigma_y(t) \sigma_y(t) \rangle$’)
plt.xlabel(r’$t_2$’)
plt.ylabel(r’$t_1$’)
plt.axis([0, 50, 0, 50])
plt.colorbar()
plt.show()

corryz = correlation_2op_2t(H, rho, t, t, [np.sqrt(gamma)*sigminus], sigysu2

,→ , sigzsu2)

plt.pcolor(np.real(corryz))
plt.title(r’Correlation for $\langle \sigma_y(t) \sigma_z(t) \rangle$’)
plt.xlabel(r’$t_2$’)
plt.ylabel(r’$t_1$’)
plt.axis([0, 50, 0, 50])
plt.colorbar()
plt.show()

corrzz = correlation_2op_2t(H, rho, t, t, [np.sqrt(gamma)*sigminus], sigzsu2

,→ , sigzsu2)

plt.pcolor(np.real(corrzz))
plt.title(r’Correlation for $\langle \sigma_z(t) \sigma_z(t) \rangle$’)
plt.xlabel(r’$t_2$’)
plt.ylabel(r’$t_1$’)

71
plt.axis([0, 50, 0, 50])
plt.colorbar()
plt.show()

72
Appendix C

Code for Bloch Sphere

import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from scipy.integrate import odeint
from mpl_toolkits.mplot3d import Axes3D
from qutip import *

rho = 28
sigma = 10.0
beta = 8.0 / 3.0

def f(state, t):

x, y, z = state
return sigma * (y - x), x * (rho - z) - y, x * y - beta * z

state0 = [1.0, 1.0, 1.0]

t = np.linspace(0.0, 1000.0, 10000)

states = odeint(f, state0, t)

73
datalx = states[:,0]
dataly = states[:,1]
datalz = states[:,2]

psi = Qobj([[1], [0]])

sigxsu2 = Qobj([[0,1], [1,0]])

sigysu2 = Qobj([[0,1j], [-1j,0]])
sigzsu2 = Qobj([[1,0], [0,-1]])
sigminus = 2*Qobj([[0,0], [1,0]])

gamma = 0
rho = psi*psi.dag()

H1 = sigxsu2
H2 = sigysu2
H3 = sigzsu2

def H1_coeff(t, args):

return datalx[t]

def H2_coeff(t, args):

return dataly[t]

def H3_coeff(t, args):

return datalz[t]

H = [[H1, H1_coeff], [H2, H2_coeff], [H3, H3_coeff]]

sigxd = mesolve(H, rho, t, [np.sqrt(gamma)*sigminus], sigxsu2)

74
sigyd = mesolve(H, rho, t, [np.sqrt(gamma)*sigminus], sigysu2)
sigzd = mesolve(H, rho, t, [np.sqrt(gamma)*sigminus], sigzsu2)

sigx = sigxd.expect[0]
sigy = sigyd.expect[0]
sigz = sigzd.expect[0]

b = Bloch()
b.add_points([sigx, sigy, sigz])
b.show()

75
Appendix D

Code for Random Hamiltonian

import numpy as np
import random
from qutip import *

t = np.linspace(0.0, 50.0, 250)

psi = Qobj([[1], [0]])

sigxsu2 = Qobj([[0,1], [1,0]])

sigysu2 = Qobj([[0,1j], [-1j,0]])
sigzsu2 = Qobj([[1,0], [0,-1]])
sigminus = 2*Qobj([[0,0], [1,0]])

gamma = 0
rho = psi*psi.dag()

H1C = []
H2C = []
H3C = []

76
for n in range(0, 250):
H1C.append(random.random())
H2C.append(random.random())
H3C.append(random.random())

H1C = np.asarray(H1C)
H2C = np.asarray(H2C)
H3C = np.asarray(H3C)

H1 = sigxsu2
H2 = sigysu2
H3 = sigzsu2

def H1_coeff(t, args):

return H1C[t]

def H2_coeff(t, args):

return H2C[t]

def H3_coeff(t, args):

return H3C[t]

H = [[H1, H1_coeff], [H2, H2_coeff], [H3, H3_coeff]]

77
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