Chaotic dynamics and fractal structures in experiments with cold atoms

Abstract

We exploit tools from nonlinear dynamics to the detailed analysis of cold atom experiments. A powerful example is provided by the recent concept of basin entropy which allows to quantify the final state unpredictability that results from the complexity of the phase space geometry. We show here that this enables one to reliably infer the presence of fractal structures in phase space from direct measurements. We exemplify the method with numerical simulations in an experimental configuration made of two crossing laser guides and originally used as a matter wave splitter.