Partner orbits and action differences on compact factors of the hyperbolic plane. Part I: Sieber-Richter pairs

Physicists have argued that periodic orbit bunching leads to universal spectral fluctuations for chaotic quantum systems. To establish a more detailed mathematical understanding of this fact, it is first necessary to look more closely at the classical side of the problem and determine orbit pairs consisting of orbits which have similar actions. In this paper we specialize to the geodesic flow on compact factors of the hyperbolic plane as a classical chaotic system. We prove the existence of a periodic partner orbit for a given periodic orbit which has a small-angle self-crossing in configuration space which is a `2-encounter'; such configurations are called `Sieber-Richter pairs' in the physics literature. Furthermore, we derive an estimate for the action difference of the partners. In the second part of this paper [13], an inductive argument is provided to deal with higher-order encounters.Comment: to appear on Nonlinearit

Classical orbit bifurcation and quantum interference in mesoscopic magnetoconductance

We study the magnetoconductance of electrons through a mesoscopic channel with antidots. Through quantum interference effects, the conductance maxima as functions of the magnetic field strength and the antidot radius (regulated by the applied gate voltage) exhibit characteristic dislocations that have been observed experimentally. Using the semiclassical periodic orbit theory, we relate these dislocations directly to bifurcations of the leading classes of periodic orbits.Comment: 4 pages, including 5 figures. Revised version with clarified discussion and minor editorial change

A generic C1C^1 map has no absolutely continuous invariant probability measure

Let $M$ be a smooth compact manifold (maybe with boundary, maybe disconnected) of any dimension $d \ge 1$. We consider the set of $C^1$ maps $f:M\to M$ which have no absolutely continuous (with respect to Lebesgue) invariant probability measure. We show that this is a residual (dense $G_\delta) set in the$C^1$ topology. In the course of the proof, we need a generalization of the usual Rokhlin tower lemma to non-invariant measures. That result may be of independent interest.Comment: 12 page

Semiclassical universality of parametric spectral correlations

We consider quantum systems with a chaotic classical limit that depend on an external parameter, and study correlations between the spectra at different parameter values. In particular, we consider the parametric spectral form factor $K(\tau,x)$ which depends on a scaled parameter difference $x$. For parameter variations that do not change the symmetry of the system we show by using semiclassical periodic orbit expansions that the small $\tau$ expansion of the form factor agrees with Random Matrix Theory for systems with and without time reversal symmetry.Comment: 18 pages, no figure

Periodic-Orbit Bifurcations and Superdeformed Shell Structure

We have derived a semiclassical trace formula for the level density of the three-dimensional spheroidal cavity. To overcome the divergences occurring at bifurcations and in the spherical limit, the trace integrals over the action-angle variables were performed using an improved stationary phase method. The resulting semiclassical level density oscillations and shell-correction energies are in good agreement with quantum-mechanical results. We find that the bifurcations of some dominant short periodic orbits lead to an enhancement of the shell structure for "superdeformed" shapes related to those known from atomic nuclei.Comment: 4 pages including 3 figure

Significance of Ghost Orbit Bifurcations in Semiclassical Spectra

Gutzwiller's trace formula for the semiclassical density of states in a chaotic system diverges near bifurcations of periodic orbits, where it must be replaced with uniform approximations. It is well known that, when applying these approximations, complex predecessors of orbits created in the bifurcation ("ghost orbits") can produce pronounced signatures in the semiclassical spectra in the vicinity of the bifurcation. It is the purpose of this paper to demonstrate that these ghost orbits themselves can undergo bifurcations, resulting in complex, nongeneric bifurcation scenarios. We do so by studying an example taken from the Diamagnetic Kepler Problem, viz. the period quadrupling of the balloon orbit. By application of normal form theory we construct an analytic description of the complete bifurcation scenario, which is then used to calculate the pertinent uniform approximation. The ghost orbit bifurcation turns out to produce signatures in the semiclassical spectrum in much the same way as a bifurcation of real orbits would.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figures, LATEX (IOP style), submitted to J. Phys.

Exchange-coupling constants, spin density map, and Q dependence of the inelastic neutron scattering intensity in single-molecule magnets

The Q dependence of the inelastic neutron scattering (INS) intensity of transitions within the ground-state spin multiplet of single-molecule magnets (SMMs) is considered. For these transitions, the Q dependence is related to the spin density map in the ground state, which in turn is governed by the Heisenberg exchange interactions in the cluster. This provides the possibility to infer the exchange-coupling constants from the Q dependence of the INS transitions within the spin ground state. The potential of this strategy is explored for the M = +-10 -> +- 9 transition within the S = 10 multiplet of the molecule Mn12 as an example. The Q dependence is calculated for powder as well as single-crystal Mn12 samples for various exchange-coupling situations discussed in the literature. The results are compared to literature data on a powder sample of Mn12 and to measurements on an oriented array of about 500 single-crystals of Mn12. The calculated Q dependence exhibits significant variation with the exchange-coupling constants, in particular for a single-crystal sample, but the experimental findings did not permit an unambiguous determination. However, although challenging, suitable experiments are within the reach of today's instruments.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, REVTEX4, to appear in PR

On the Accuracy of the Semiclassical Trace Formula

The semiclassical trace formula provides the basic construction from which one derives the semiclassical approximation for the spectrum of quantum systems which are chaotic in the classical limit. When the dimensionality of the system increases, the mean level spacing decreases as $\hbar^d$, while the semiclassical approximation is commonly believed to provide an accuracy of order $\hbar^2$, independently of d. If this were true, the semiclassical trace formula would be limited to systems in d <= 2 only. In the present work we set about to define proper measures of the semiclassical spectral accuracy, and to propose theoretical and numerical evidence to the effect that the semiclassical accuracy, measured in units of the mean level spacing, depends only weakly (if at all) on the dimensionality. Detailed and thorough numerical tests were performed for the Sinai billiard in 2 and 3 dimensions, substantiating the theoretical arguments.Comment: LaTeX, 31 pages, 14 figures, final version (minor changes

On the stability of periodic orbits in delay equations with large delay

We prove a necessary and sufficient criterion for the exponential stability of periodic solutions of delay differential equations with large delay. We show that for sufficiently large delay the Floquet spectrum near criticality is characterized by a set of curves, which we call asymptotic continuous spectrum, that is independent on the delay.Comment: postprint versio

Nonperiodic echoes from mushroom billiard hats

Mushroom billiards have the remarkable property to show one or more clear cut integrable islands in one or several chaotic seas, without any fractal boundaries. The islands correspond to orbits confined to the hats of the mushrooms, which they share with the chaotic orbits. It is thus interesting to ask how long a chaotic orbit will remain in the hat before returning to the stem. This question is equivalent to the inquiry about delay times for scattering from the hat of the mushroom into an opening where the stem should be. For fixed angular momentum we find that no more than three different delay times are possible. This induces striking nonperiodic structures in the delay times that may be of importance for mesoscopic devices and should be accessible to microwave experiments.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev. E without the appendi