Analysis of resonant population transfer in time-dependent elliptical quantum billiards

A Fermi's Golden Rule for population transfer between instantaneous eigenstates of elliptical quantum billiards with oscillating boundaries is derived. Thereby, both the occurrence of the recently observed resonant population transfer between instantaneous eigenstates [F. Lenz et al. New J. Phys., {\bf 13}, 103019, 2011] and the empirical criterion stating that these transitions occur when the driving frequency matches the mean difference of the latter are explained. As a second main result a criterion judging which resonances are resolvable in a corresponding experiment of certain duration is provided. Our analysis is complemented by numerical simulations for three different driving laws. The corresponding resonance spectra are in agreement with the predictions of both criteria.