Ratchet Current Landscape at Quantum Resonance

Abstract

The ratchet effect is the rectified motion of atoms using an unbiased driving force. By ‘’unbiased’’ we mean to say that the time-average is equal to zero. This can be accomplished experimentally using cold atoms in a driven optical lattice. This thesis describes the relationship between the Ratchet Current and other important parameters such as the kicking Potential P and effective Planck’s constant ℏ̃. The thesis aims at investigating how resonances can be resolved in ℏ̃ and P spaces. The behavior of the number of current peaks as the kicking potential P increases was also investigated. At the end, the thesis also explored how a tunable potential phase leads to current spikes as the Potential strength is amplified.