NAME: Perotti Luca Camillo Luigi 
ADDRESS: Home: - (Permanent) Res. dei Cedri M2
20090 Segrate (MI) ITALY
Tel +39-02 -26-40-726
FAX +39-02 –26-11-1861
e-mail: perotti@fis.unico.it
DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH: May 21, 1961, Milano, ITALY
CITIZENSHIP: Italian
EDUCATION: Ph. D. (December 1996)
Physics, University of Pittsburgh
Thesis - "Semiclassical electron transport within the excited
hydrogen atom in a pulsed microwave electric field"
Advisor - Dr. James E. Bayfield
M.S. (April 1992)
Physics, University of Pittsburgh
Laurea (February, 6 1986) Physics, Universita'
degli Studi di Milano
Grade 109/110
Thesis - "Comportamento caotico in meccanica quantistica: eccitazione
e ionizzazione dell'atomo di idrogeno" (“Chaotic behaviour in
Quantum Mechanics: Excitation and Ionization of the
Hydrogen Atom”)
Advisor - Prof. Giulio Casati
HONORS: 1991 Andrew
Mellon Predoctoral Fellowship
POSITIONS HELD:
December 2001- present: I am based at the UNIVERSITA' DEGLI STUDI DELL'INSUBRIA where I work on the quantum double pendulum and on the stochastic ionisation of Alkali-metal atoms.
December 2000- November 2001: Post-doc at
the CLARK ATLANTA UNIVERSITY where I worked with Prof. D. BESSIS and A.
MEZINCESCU designing optimized chemical composition profiles for Quantum
Well Infraband Photodetectors (QWIP’s).
June 1997 – September 1999: Post-doc
at the MAX PLANCK INSTITUT FUR QUANTENOPTIK in Munich where I work under
Prof. H. WALTHER developing numerical codes to investigate anomalous diffusion
in optical lattices.
April 1990 - November 1996: Graduate
Student Researcher at the UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH where I worked with
Dr. J.E. BAYFIELD both on numerical and laboratory experiments investigating
nonlinear atomic physics.
February 1986 - August 1989: voluntary
assistant at the UNIVERSITA' DEGLI STUDI DI MILANO where I worked
with Prof. G. CASATI in his numerical investigation of quantum dynamical
localization.
NUMERICAL EXPERIENCE:
In Atlanta I worked along two lines:
1) I perfected codes that starting from a suitable Pade’ approximant
of the desired transmittance reconstructed, through inverse scattering
techniques, the corresponding effective self-consistent potential having
no bound states. I then wrote codes to obtain the chemical composition
profile (solution of the variable mass BenDaniel and Duke’s equation) for
a given density of donor dopant ions.
2) I also wrote codes that, using double Darboux transformations on
a given potential with one bound state, optimized the asymmetry of the
continuum function and therefore the probability for an electron excited
by incident light to be emitted in one direction.
In Munich I developed -for comparison with laboratory
experiments- semiclassical and full quantum Montecarlo simulations of an
ion moving in a one-dimensional optical lattice and a weak confining static
electric field while at the same time being subject to a periodic driving
force. The solution of the Fokker-Planck equation for the system in the
diffusion limit allows us to explain the apparent rise of the spatial diffusion
coefficient when increasing the periodic force amplitude (see publication
3).
In Pittsburgh my work included:
1) Classical numerical simulations and calculation of
the Lyapunov exponents for a system consisting of an ensemble of (two-level)
Rydberg atoms collectively interacting with its own selfconsistent
field and an external microwave field in a cavity. By changing the strength
of the external field and/or its detuning from the chosen atomic transition,
the behavior of the system can be made to change from regular to weakly
chaotic and finally to strongly chaotic. The system moreover offers a convenient
way to change the total action by varying the number of interacting atoms.
It is therefore considered a convenient system to explore the different
dependence on the total action of the time at which quantum evolution begins
to significantly deviate from the classical one in the case of regular
and chaotic systems [G. P. Berman, E. N. Bulgakov and D. D. Holm, Los Alamos
Report LA-UR-93_2187 (1993)]. In the first case this time -called "quantum
breaktime"- is expected to be a polynomial function of the action, in the
latter a logarithmic one. My simulations were aimed at identifying the
parameter ranges for the different regimes (regular, strongly chaotic,
weakly chaotic) and finding their signature in the (averaged) quantities
to be measured in the laboratory.
2) Classical and quantum simulations of the monodimensional
hydrogen atom in a pulsed microwave field and a collinear constant static
electric field, both with and without noise (see publications 6 and 7 and
preprint 6). These were compared with experimental results for atoms prepared
in extreme Stark states in a static electric field and made to interact
with a pulse of microwaves polarized collinear to the static field
used to align the atoms.
3) Calculation of the instantaneous quantum quasienergy
(Floquet) levels for the above system, of the Husimi functions of the corresponding
states and of the projections on those states of the pulsed wavefunction
to help interpret the results of the above quantum numerical simulations
preprints 4 and 5). In particular we were able to show the relevance of
small (as compared to h) classical phase space structures to pulsed quantum
evolution (preprint 4).
In Milano I helped develop the codes we used to
numerically investigate the quantum dynamical localization in action (principal
quantum number) of the electron probability for a mono (and bi-) dimensional
hydrogen atom in a microwave field when the corresponding classical system
is chaotic.
LABORATORY EXPERIENCE:
All of my laboratory work was done in Pittsburgh
and was mostly preparatory in character:
1) I designed a "quantum breaktime" experiment (see point
1 above). I also designed and partially constructed the apparatus for the
experiment: the ensemble of Rydberg atoms (all in the same quantum
state) is produced by an intense picosecond laser pulse. After a
variable time interval, a second picosecond laser pulse probes the state
coupled to the excited one by the microwave.
2) I designed an experiment to investigate the (classical)
stabilization of hydrogen atoms in a superintense microwave field [F. Benvenuto,
G. Casati and I. Guarneri PRA 45 ('92) 7670 and PRA 47 ('93) 786]. One
critical point is the necessity to switch on (and off) the field in less
than one Kepler period of the atom to avoid ionization by the intermediate
field. Using a preexisting apparatus for the production and detection of
a fast beam of excited hydrogen atoms, I tested the feasibility of passing
the beam through a grid of very small holes. These grids -placed
over the holes needed for the atomic beam to pass through the waveguide-
will reduce the exponential tails of the microwave field enough to satisfy
the above condition.
Also, I did perform some data collecting (ionization data
for Rydberg atoms in a microwave field) on an already operative machine.
COMPUTER SKILLS:
Extensive experience in scientific computing in FORTRAN (and occasionally
QUICKBASIC and C++) on different machines (VAX, IBM, UNIVAC, CDC)
and operating systems (UNIX, UNICOS, VMS, DOS, WINDOWS); in
particular -since January 1985- experience in vector supercomputing
on CRAY and in
parallel computing.
Experience in MATHEMATICA and MAPLE.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE:
November 2004: Teacher of a course “practical applications of Algebra”, Universita' degli Studi dell”Insubria, Varese (ITALY):
November 1999 - June 2000: Teacher of Mathematics and Physics, Liceo Scientifico Casiraghi Milano (ITALY):
Third class: mathematics: geometry in the cartesian plane and algebra of finite groups (three hours a week); physics: elementary mechanics (two hours a week).
Fourth class: mathematics: trigonometry, complex numbers, topology in Rn and successions (three hours a week) ; physics: elementary thermodynamics, waves and geometrical optics, (three hours a week) .
Fifth class: mathematics: limits, derivatives, Riemann integrals, and combinatory calculus (three hours a week) ; physics: elementary electromagnetism and introduction to quantum physics (three hours a week) .
September 1995 - April 1996: TA, University of Pittsburgh (USA); General Physics I:
A hour a week for each of five sections.
September 1989-April 1990 and January 1995-April 1996: TA, University of Pittsburgh (USA);
Undergraduate Laboratory: experiments of mechanics, thermodynamics, wave mechanics, electromagnetism, optics and nuclear dosimetry. A four hour session a week with a brief introductory lesson, followed by assistance to the students.
September 1987 - October 1988: TA, Naval Academy of Livorno (ITALY); General Physics I:
Elementary mechanics, hydrodynamics, and thermodynamics. Two hours a week for each of the five sections of the Staff Officer course and three hours a week for each of the two sections Engineer Officer course.
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS: 1993 - 1996: American Physical
Society
GENERAL: Good knowledge of French
School knowledge of German
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