Bloch-like energy oscillations

Abstract: We identify a new type of periodic evolution that appears in driven quantum systems. Provided that the instantaneous (adiabatic) energies are equidistant we show how such systems can be mapped to (time-dependent) tilted single-band lattice models. Having established this mapping, the dynamics can be understood in terms of Bloch oscillations in the instantaneous energy basis. In our lattice model the site-localized states are the adiabatic ones, and the Bloch oscillations manifest as a periodic repopulation among these states, or equivalently a periodic change in the system's instantaneous energy. Our predictions are confirmed by considering two different models: a driven harmonic oscillator and a Landau-Zener grid model. Both models indeed show convincing, or even perfect, oscillations. To strengthen the link between our energy Bloch oscillations and the original spatial Bloch oscillations we add a random disorder that breaks the translational invariance of the spectrum. This verifies that the oscillating evolution breaks down and instead turns into a ballistic spreading.