Eva-Maria Graefe

A non-Hermitian PT-symmetric kicked top

A non-Hermitian PT-symmetric version of the kicked top is introduced to study the interplay of quantum chaos with balanced loss and gain. The classical dynamics arising from the quantum dynamics of the angular momentum expectation values are derived. It is demonstrated that the presence of PT-symmetry can lead to ''stable'' mixed regular chaotic behaviour without sinks or sources for subcritical values of the gain-loss parameter. For large values of the kicking strength a strange attractor is observed that also persists if PT-symmetry is broken. Classical structures are also identified in the quantum dynamics. Finally, some of the statistics of the eigenvalues of the quantum system are analysed.