Exponential wave-packet spreading via self-interaction time modulation

The time-periodic modulation of the self-interaction of a Bose\char21{}Einstein condensate or a nonlinear optics system has been recognized as an exciting tool to explore interesting physics that was previously unavailable. This tool is exploited here to examine the exotic dynamics of a nonlinear system described by the Gross\char21{}Pitaevskii equation. We observe three remarkable and closely related dynamical phenomena, exponentially localized profile of wave functions in momentum space with localization length exponentially increasing in time, exponential wave-packet spreading, and exponential sensitivity to initial conditions. A hybrid quantum-classical theory is developed to partly explain these findings. Time-periodic self-interaction modulation is seen to be a robust method to achieve superfast spreading and induce genuine chaos even in the absence of any external potential.