Many-mode Floquet theory [T.-S. Ho, S.-I. Chu, and J. V. Tietz, Chem. Phys. Lett. 96, 464 (1983)] is a technique for solving the time-dependent Schrödinger equation in the special case of multiple periodic fields, but its limitations are not well understood. We show that for a Hamiltonian consisting of two time-periodic couplings of commensurate frequencies (integer multiples of a common frequency), many-mode Floquet theory provides a correct expression for unitary time evolution. However, caution must be taken in the interpretation of the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the corresponding many-mode Floquet Hamiltonian, as only part of its spectrum is directly relevant to time evolution. We give a physical interpretation for the remainder of the spectrum of the Hamiltonian. These results are relevant to the engineering of quantum systems using multiple controllable periodic fields.

We present a constructive proof of Floquet's theorem for the special case of unitary time evolution in quantum mechanics. The proof is straightforward and suitable for study in courses on quantum mechanics.