Zusammenfassung
Although Zitterbewegung-the jittery motion of relativistic particles-was known since 1930 and was predicted in solid-state systems long ago, it has been directly measured so far only in so-called quantum simulators, i.e., quantum systems under strong control, such as trapped ions and Bose-Einstein condensates. A reason for the lack of further experimental evidence is the transient nature of ...
Zusammenfassung
Although Zitterbewegung-the jittery motion of relativistic particles-was known since 1930 and was predicted in solid-state systems long ago, it has been directly measured so far only in so-called quantum simulators, i.e., quantum systems under strong control, such as trapped ions and Bose-Einstein condensates. A reason for the lack of further experimental evidence is the transient nature of wave-packet Zitterbewegung. Here, we study how the jittery motion can be manipulated in Dirac systems via time-dependent potentials with the goal of slowing down/preventing its decay or of generating its revival. For the harmonic driving of a mass term, we find persistent Zitterbewegung modes in pristine, i.e., scattering free, systems. Furthermore, an effective time-reversal protocol-the "Dirac quantum time mirror"-is shown to retrieve Zitterbewegung through echoes.
Altmetric