Localized Structures Embedded in the Eigenfunctions of Chaotic Hamiltonian Systems

We study quantum localization phenomena in chaotic systems with a parameter. The parametric motion of energy levels proceeds without crossing any other and the defined avoided crossings quantify the interaction between states. We propose the elimination of avoided crossings as the natural mechanism to uncover localized structures. We describe an efficient method for the elimination of avoided crossings in chaotic billiards and apply it to the stadium billiard. We find many scars of short periodic orbits revealing the skeleton on which quantum mechanics is built. Moreover, we have observed strong interaction between similar localized structures.Comment: RevTeX, 3 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Influence of phase space localization on the energy diffusion in a quantum chaotic billiard

The quantum dynamics of a chaotic billiard with moving boundary is considered in this work. We found a shape parameter Hamiltonian expansion which enables us to obtain the spectrum of the deformed billiard for deformations so large as the characteristic wave length. Then, for a specified time dependent shape variation, the quantum dynamics of a particle inside the billiard is integrated directly. In particular, the dispersion of the energy is studied in the Bunimovich stadium billiard with oscillating boundary. The results showed that the distribution of energy spreads diffusively for the first oscillations of the boundary ({ =2 D t). We studied the diffusion contant $D$ as a function of the boundary velocity and found differences with theoretical predictions based on random matrix theory. By extracting highly phase space localized structures from the spectrum, previous differences were reduced significantly. This fact provides the first numerical evidence of the influence of phase space localization on the quantum diffusion of a chaotic system.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Scar functions in the Bunimovich Stadium billiard

In the context of the semiclassical theory of short periodic orbits, scar functions play a crucial role. These wavefunctions live in the neighbourhood of the trajectories, resembling the hyperbolic structure of the phase space in their immediate vicinity. This property makes them extremely suitable for investigating chaotic eigenfunctions. On the other hand, for all practical purposes reductions to Poincare sections become essential. Here we give a detailed explanation of resonances and scar functions construction in the Bunimovich stadium billiard and the corresponding reduction to the boundary. Moreover, we develop a method that takes into account the departure of the unstable and stable manifolds from the linear regime. This new feature extends the validity of the expressions.Comment: 21 pages, 10 figure

Localization properties of groups of eigenstates in chaotic systems

In this paper we study in detail the localized wave functions defined in Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 76}, 1613 (1994), in connection with the scarring effect of unstable periodic orbits in highly chaotic Hamiltonian system. These functions appear highly localized not only along periodic orbits but also on the associated manifolds. Moreover, they show in phase space the hyperbolic structure in the vicinity of the orbit, something which translates in configuration space into the structure induced by the corresponding self--focal points. On the other hand, the quantum dynamics of these functions are also studied. Our results indicate that the probability density first evolves along the unstable manifold emanating from the periodic orbit, and localizes temporarily afterwards on only a few, short related periodic orbits. We believe that this type of studies can provide some keys to disentangle the complexity associated to the quantum mechanics of these kind of systems, which permits the construction of a simple explanation in terms of the dynamics of a few classical structures.Comment: 9 pages, 8 Postscript figures (low resolution). For high resolution versions of figs http://www.tandar.cnea.gov.ar/~wisniack/ To appear in Phys. Rev.

The scar mechanism revisited

Unstable periodic orbits are known to originate scars on some eigenfunctions of classically chaotic systems through recurrences causing that some part of an initial distribution of quantum probability in its vicinity returns periodically close to the initial point. In the energy domain, these recurrences are seen to accumulate quantum density along the orbit by a constructive interference mechanism when the appropriate quantization (on the action of the scarring orbit) is fulfilled. Other quantized phase space circuits, such as those defined by homoclinic tori, are also important in the coherent transport of quantum density in chaotic systems. The relationship of this secondary quantum transport mechanism with the standard mechanism for scarring is here discussed and analyzed.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure

Beyond the First Recurrence in Scar Phenomena

The scarring effect of short unstable periodic orbits up to times of the order of the first recurrence is well understood. Much less is known, however, about what happens past this short-time limit. By considering the evolution of a dynamically averaged wave packet, we show that the dynamics for longer times is controlled by only a few related short periodic orbits and their interplay.Comment: 4 pages, 4 Postscript figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Superscars in the LiNC=LiCN isomerization reaction

We demonstrate the existence of superscarring in the LiNC=LiCN isomerization reaction described by a realistic potential interaction in the range of readily attainable experimental energies. This phenomenon arises as the effect of two periodic orbits appearing "out of the blue"in a saddle--node bifurcation taking place in the dynamics of the system. Potential practical consequences of this superlocalization in the corresponding wave functions are also considered.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures. to appear in EP

Semiclassical basis sets for the computation of molecular vibrational states

In this paper, we extend a method recently reported [F. Revuelta et al., Phys. Rev. E 87, 042921 (2013)] for the calculation of the eigenstates of classically highly chaotic systems to cases of mixed dynamics, i.e., those presenting regular and irregular motions at the same energy. The efficiency of the method, which is based on the use of a semiclassical basis set of localized wave functions, is demonstrated by applying it to the determination of the vibrational states of a realistic molecular system, namely, the LiCN moleculeWe acknowledge financial support of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) under Contract Nos. MTM2012-39101 and MTM2015-63914-P and ICMAT Severo Ochoa under Contract No. SEV-2015-055

Scarring by homoclinic and heteroclinic orbits

In addition to the well known scarring effect of periodic orbits, we show here that homoclinic and heteroclinic orbits, which are cornerstones in the theory of classical chaos, also scar eigenfunctions of classically chaotic systems when associated closed circuits in phase space are properly quantized, thus introducing strong quantum correlations. The corresponding quantization rules are also established. This opens the door for developing computationally tractable methods to calculate eigenstates of chaotic systems.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Signatures of homoclinic motion in quantum chaos

Homoclinic motion plays a key role in the organization of classical chaos in Hamiltonian systems. In this Letter, we show that it also imprints a clear signature in the corresponding quantum spectra. By numerically studying the fluctuations of the widths of wavefunctions localized along periodic orbits we reveal the existence of an oscillatory behavior, that is explained solely in terms of the primary homoclinic motion. Furthermore, our results indicate that it survives the semiclassical limit.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure