Scattering-induced dynamical entanglement and the quantum-classical correspondence

Laboratoire de Spectrométrie physique (CNRS Unité 5588), Université Joseph-Fourier Grenoble-1 - BP 87, 38402 Saint Martin d'Hères, France

Received: 9 January 2006
Accepted: 30 March 2006

Abstract

The generation of entanglement produced by a local potential interaction in a bipartite system is investigated. The degree of entanglement is contrasted with the underlying classical dynamics for a Rydberg molecule (a charged particle colliding on a kicked top). Entanglement is seen to depend on the structure of classical phase-space rather than on the global dynamical regime. As a consequence, regular classical dynamics can in certain circumstances be associated with higher entanglement generation than chaotic dynamics. In addition, quantum effects also come into play: for example, partial revivals, which are expected to persist in the semiclassical limit, affect the long-time behaviour of the reduced linear entropy. These results suggest that entanglement may not be a pertinent universal signature of chaos.