Relaxation Time of Quantized Toral Maps

We introduce the notion of the relaxation time for noisy quantum maps on the 2d-dimensional torus - a generalization of previously studied dissipation time. We show that relaxation time is sensitive to the chaotic behavior of the corresponding classical system if one simultaneously considers the semiclassical limit ($\hbar$ -> 0) together with the limit of small noise strength (\ep -> 0). Focusing on quantized smooth Anosov maps, we exhibit a semiclassical regime $\hbar1) in which classical and quantum relaxation times share the same asymptotics: in this regime, a quantized Anosov map relaxes to equilibrium fast, as the classical map does. As an intermediate result, we obtain rigorous estimates of the quantum-classical correspondence for noisy maps on the torus, up to times logarithmic in$\hbar^{-1}$. On the other hand, we show that in the ``quantum regime''$\ep$<<$\hbar$ << 1, quantum and classical relaxation times behave very differently. In the special case of ergodic toral symplectomorphisms (generalized ``Arnold's cat'' maps), we obtain the exact asymptotics of the quantum relaxation time and precise the regime of correspondence between quantum and classical relaxations.Comment: LaTeX, 27 pages, former term dissipation time replaced by relaxation time, new introduction and reference

On the mean density of complex eigenvalues for an ensemble of random matrices with prescribed singular values

Given any fixed $N \times N$ positive semi-definite diagonal matrix $G\ge 0$ we derive the explicit formula for the density of complex eigenvalues for random matrices $A$ of the form $A=U\sqrt{G}$} where the random unitary matrices $U$ are distributed on the group $\mathrm{U(N)}$ according to the Haar measure.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figur

Who Should Govern Congress? Access to Power and the Salary Grab of 1873

We examine the politics of the %u201CSalary Grab%u201D of 1873, legislation that increased congressional salaries retroactively by 50 percent. A group of New England and Midwestern elites opposed the Salary Grab, along with congressional franking and patronage-based civil service appointments, as part of reform effort to reshape %u201Cwho should govern Congress.%u201D Our analyses of congressional voting confirm the existence of this non-party elite coalition. While these elites lost many legislative battles in the short-run, their efforts kept reform on the legislative agenda throughout the late-nineteenth century and ultimately set the stage for the Progressive movement in the early-twentieth century.

On the resonance eigenstates of an open quantum baker map

We study the resonance eigenstates of a particular quantization of the open baker map. For any admissible value of Planck's constant, the corresponding quantum map is a subunitary matrix, and the nonzero component of its spectrum is contained inside an annulus in the complex plane, $|z_{min}|\leq |z|\leq |z_{max}|$. We consider semiclassical sequences of eigenstates, such that the moduli of their eigenvalues converge to a fixed radius $r$. We prove that, if the moduli converge to $r=|z_{max}|$, then the sequence of eigenstates converges to a fixed phase space measure $\rho_{max}$. The same holds for sequences with eigenvalue moduli converging to $|z_{min}|$, with a different limit measure $\rho_{min}$. Both these limiting measures are supported on fractal sets, which are trapped sets of the classical dynamics. For a general radius $|z_{min}|< r < |z_{max}|$, we identify families of eigenstates with precise self-similar properties.Comment: 32 pages, 2 figure

Dissipation time and decay of correlations

We consider the effect of noise on the dynamics generated by volume-preserving maps on a d-dimensional torus. The quantity we use to measure the irreversibility of the dynamics is the dissipation time. We focus on the asymptotic behaviour of this time in the limit of small noise. We derive universal lower and upper bounds for the dissipation time in terms of various properties of the map and its associated propagators: spectral properties, local expansivity, and global mixing properties. We show that the dissipation is slow for a general class of non-weakly-mixing maps; on the opposite, it is fast for a large class of exponentially mixing systems which include uniformly expanding maps and Anosov diffeomorphisms.Comment: 26 Pages, LaTex. Submitted to Nonlinearit

Using the Hadamard and related transforms for simplifying the spectrum of the quantum baker's map

We rationalize the somewhat surprising efficacy of the Hadamard transform in simplifying the eigenstates of the quantum baker's map, a paradigmatic model of quantum chaos. This allows us to construct closely related, but new, transforms that do significantly better, thus nearly solving for many states of the quantum baker's map. These new transforms, which combine the standard Fourier and Hadamard transforms in an interesting manner, are constructed from eigenvectors of the shift permutation operator that are also simultaneous eigenvectors of bit-flip (parity) and possess bit-reversal (time-reversal) symmetry.Comment: Version to appear in J. Phys. A. Added discussions; modified title; corrected minor error

Some open questions in "wave chaos"

The subject area referred to as "wave chaos", "quantum chaos" or "quantum chaology" has been investigated mostly by the theoretical physics community in the last 30 years. The questions it raises have more recently also attracted the attention of mathematicians and mathematical physicists, due to connections with number theory, graph theory, Riemannian, hyperbolic or complex geometry, classical dynamical systems, probability etc. After giving a rough account on "what is quantum chaos?", I intend to list some pending questions, some of them having been raised a long time ago, some others more recent

Hyperbolic Scar Patterns in Phase Space

We develop a semiclassical approximation for the spectral Wigner and Husimi functions in the neighbourhood of a classically unstable periodic orbit of chaotic two dimensional maps. The prediction of hyperbolic fringes for the Wigner function, asymptotic to the stable and unstable manifolds, is verified computationally for a (linear) cat map, after the theory is adapted to a discrete phase space appropriate to a quantized torus. The characteristic fringe patterns can be distinguished even for quasi-energies where the fixed point is not Bohr-quantized. The corresponding Husimi function dampens these fringes with a Gaussian envelope centered on the periodic point. Even though the hyperbolic structure is then barely perceptible, more periodic points stand out due to the weakened interference.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures, Submited to Phys. Rev.