Harmonic oscillator kicked by spin measurements: A Floquet-like system without a classical analog

We present a kicked harmonic oscillator where the impulsive driving is provided by stroboscopic measurements on an ancillary degree of freedom and not by the canonical quantization of a time-dependent Hamiltonian. The ancilla is dynamically entangled with the oscillator position, while the background Hamiltonian remains static. The dynamics of this system is determined in closed analytical form, allowing for the evaluation of a properly defined Loschmidt echo, ensemble averages, and phase-space portraits. As in the case of standard Floquet systems, we observe regimes with crystalline and quasicrystalline structures in phase space, resonances, and evidence of chaotic behavior, however, not originating from any classically chaotic system.

Automated summary

We present a kicked harmonic oscillator driven by impulsive measurements on an ancillary degree of freedom. The system exhibits crystalline and quasicrystalline structures, resonances, and chaotic behavior in phase space, but not originating from classical chaos.