Classical and Quantum Transport Through Entropic Barriers Modelled by Hardwall Hyperboloidal Constrictions

We study the quantum transport through entropic barriers induced by hardwall constrictions of hyperboloidal shape in two and three spatial dimensions. Using the separability of the Schrodinger equation and the classical equations of motion for these geometries we study in detail the quantum transmission probabilities and the associated quantum resonances, and relate them to the classical phase structures which govern the transport through the constrictions. These classical phase structures are compared to the analogous structures which, as has been shown only recently, govern reaction type dynamics in smooth systems. Although the systems studied in this paper are special due their separability they can be taken as a guide to study entropic barriers resulting from constriction geometries that lead to non-separable dynamics.Comment: 59 pages, 22 EPS figures

Quantum monodromy in trapped Bose condensates

Bose-Einstein condensation of ultra cold atoms is typically realized in magnetic traps which effectively lead to an axially symmetric harmonic potential. This letter shows that the spectrum of collective vibrational modes of a repulsive condensate in a prolate potential displays a defect known as quantum monodromy. The monodromy is analysed on the basis of the dynamics of quasiparticles. In terms of the quasiparticles the regime of collective modes or the so-called hydrodynamic regime is characterized through kinetic energies much smaller than the chemical potential. In this limit the classical dynamics of the quasiparticles is integrable. The monodromy is quantitatively described by a monodromy matrix that is calculated from classical actions

Transition state theory for wave packet dynamics. II. Thermal decay of Bose-Einstein condensates with long-range interaction

We apply transition state theory to coupled Gaussian wave packets and calculate thermal decay rates of Bose-Einstein condensates with additional long-range interaction. The ground state of such a condensate is metastable if the contact interaction is attractive and a sufficient thermal excitation may lead to its collapse. The use of transition state theory is made possible by describing the condensate within a variational framework and locally mapping the variational parameters to classical phase space as has been demonstrated in the preceding paper [A. Junginger, J. Main, and G. Wunner, submitted to J. Phys. A]. We apply this procedure to Gaussian wave packets and present results for condensates with monopolar 1/r-interaction comparing decay rates obtained by using different numbers of coupled Gaussian trial wave functions as well as different normal form orders.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, submitted to J. Phys.

Transition state theory for wave packet dynamics. I. Thermal decay in metastable Schr\"odinger systems

We demonstrate the application of transition state theory to wave packet dynamics in metastable Schr\"odinger systems which are approached by means of a variational ansatz for the wave function and whose dynamics is described within the framework of a time-dependent variational principle. The application of classical transition state theory, which requires knowledge of a classical Hamilton function, is made possible by mapping the variational parameters to classical phase space coordinates and constructing an appropriate Hamiltonian in action variables. This mapping, which is performed by a normal form expansion of the equations of motion and an additional adaptation to the energy functional, as well as the requirements to the variational ansatz are discussed in detail. The applicability of the procedure is demonstrated for a cubic model potential for which we calculate thermal decay rates of a frozen Gaussian wave function. The decay rate obtained with a narrow trial wave function agrees perfectly with the results using the classical normal form of the corresponding point particle. The results with a broader trial wave function go even beyond the classical approach, i.e., they agree with those using the quantum normal form. The method presented here will be applied to Bose-Einstein condensates in the following paper [A. Junginger, M. Dorwarth, J. Main, and G. Wunner, submitted to J. Phys. A].Comment: 21 pages, 3 figures, submitted to J. Phys.

Microdisk Resonators with Two Point Scatterers

Optical microdisk resonators exhibit modes with extremely high Q-factors. Their low lasing thresholds make circular microresonators good candidates for the realization of miniature laser sources. They have, however, the serious drawback that their light emission is isotropic, which is inconvenient for many applications. In our previous work, we showed that the presence of a point scatterer inside the disk can lead to highly directional modes in various frequency ranges while preserving the high Q-factors. In the present paper we generalize this idea to two point scatterers. The motivation for this work is that the strength of a point scatterer is difficult to control in experiments, and the presence of a second scatterer leads to a higher dimensional parameter space which permits to compensate this deficiency. Similar to the case of a single scatterer in a circular disk, the problem of finding the resonance modes in the presence of two scatterers is to a large extent analytically tractable.

Geometrical Models of the Phase Space Structures Governing Reaction Dynamics

Hamiltonian dynamical systems possessing equilibria of ${saddle} \times {centre} \times...\times {centre}$ stability type display \emph{reaction-type dynamics} for energies close to the energy of such equilibria; entrance and exit from certain regions of the phase space is only possible via narrow \emph{bottlenecks} created by the influence of the equilibrium points. In this paper we provide a thorough pedagogical description of the phase space structures that are responsible for controlling transport in these problems. Of central importance is the existence of a \emph{Normally Hyperbolic Invariant Manifold (NHIM)}, whose \emph{stable and unstable manifolds} have sufficient dimensionality to act as separatrices, partitioning energy surfaces into regions of qualitatively distinct behavior. This NHIM forms the natural (dynamical) equator of a (spherical) \emph{dividing surface} which locally divides an energy surface into two components (`reactants' and `products'), one on either side of the bottleneck. This dividing surface has all the desired properties sought for in \emph{transition state theory} where reaction rates are computed from the flux through a dividing surface. In fact, the dividing surface that we construct is crossed exactly once by reactive trajectories, and not crossed by nonreactive trajectories, and related to these properties, minimizes the flux upon variation of the dividing surface. We discuss three presentations of the energy surface and the phase space structures contained in it for 2-degree-of-freedom (DoF) systems in the threedimensional space $\R^3$, and two schematic models which capture many of the essential features of the dynamics for $n$-DoF systems. In addition, we elucidate the structure of the NHIM.Comment: 44 pages, 38 figures, PDFLaTe

Internal and External Resonances of Dielectric Disks

Circular microresonators (microdisks) are micron sized dielectric disks embedded in a material of lower refractive index. They possess modes with complex eigenvalues (resonances) which are solutions of analytically given transcendental equations. The behavior of such eigenvalues in the small opening limit, i.e. when the refractive index of the cavity goes to infinity, is analysed. This analysis allows one to clearly distinguish between internal (Feshbach) and external (shape) resonant modes for both TM and TE polarizations. This is especially important for TE polarization for which internal and external resonances can be found in the same region of the complex wavenumber plane. It is also shown that for both polarizations, the internal as well as external resonances can be classified by well defined azimuthal and radial modal indices.Comment: 5 pages, 8 figures, pdflate