Fluctuation-induced quenching of chaos in quantum optics
Abstract
Recent studies have extensively explored chaotic dynamics in quantum optical systems through the mean-field approximation, which corresponds to an ideal, fluctuation-free scenario. However, the inherent sensitivity of chaos to initial conditions implies that even minute fluctuations can be amplified, thereby questioning the applicability of this approximation. Here, we analyze these chaotic effects using stochastic Langevin equations or the Lindblad master equation. For systems operating at frequencies of to Hz, we demonstrate that room-temperature thermal fluctuations are sufficient to suppress chaos at the level of expectation values, even under weak nonlinearity. Furthermore, nonlinearity induces deviations from Gaussian phase-space distributions of the quantum state, revealing attractor-like features in the Wigner function. With increasing nonlinearity, the noise threshold for chaos suppression decreases, approaching the scale of vacuum fluctuations. These results provide a bidirectional validation of the quantum mechanical suppression of chaos.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2601.10147,
title = {Fluctuation-induced quenching of chaos in quantum optics},
author = {Mei-Qi Gao and Song-hai Li and Xun Li and Xingli Li and Jiong Cheng and Wenlin Li},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2601.10147},
year = {2026}
}