Scar Intensity Statistics in the Position Representation

We obtain general predictions for the distribution of wave function intensities in position space on the periodic orbits of chaotic ballistic systems. The expressions depend on effective system size N, instability exponent lambda of the periodic orbit, and proximity to a focal point of the orbit. Limiting expressions are obtained that include the asymptotic probability distribution of rare high-intensity events and a perturbative formula valid in the limit of weak scarring. For finite system sizes, a single scaling variable lambda N describes deviations from the semiclassical N -> infinity limit.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev. E, 10 pages, including 4 figure

Quantization of multidimensional cat maps

In this work we study cat maps with many degrees of freedom. Classical cat maps are classified using the Cayley parametrization of symplectic matrices and the closely associated center and chord generating functions. Particular attention is dedicated to loxodromic behavior, which is a new feature of two-dimensional maps. The maps are then quantized using a recently developed Weyl representation on the torus and the general condition on the Floquet angles is derived for a particular map to be quantizable. The semiclassical approximation is exact, regardless of the dimensionality or of the nature of the fixed points.Comment: 33 pages, latex, 6 figures, Submitted to Nonlinearit

How Chaotic is the Stadium Billiard? A Semiclassical Analysis

The impression gained from the literature published to date is that the spectrum of the stadium billiard can be adequately described, semiclassically, by the Gutzwiller periodic orbit trace formula together with a modified treatment of the marginally stable family of bouncing ball orbits. I show that this belief is erroneous. The Gutzwiller trace formula is not applicable for the phase space dynamics near the bouncing ball orbits. Unstable periodic orbits close to the marginally stable family in phase space cannot be treated as isolated stationary phase points when approximating the trace of the Green function. Semiclassical contributions to the trace show an $\hbar$ - dependent transition from hard chaos to integrable behavior for trajectories approaching the bouncing ball orbits. A whole region in phase space surrounding the marginal stable family acts, semiclassically, like a stable island with boundaries being explicitly $\hbar$-dependent. The localized bouncing ball states found in the billiard derive from this semiclassically stable island. The bouncing ball orbits themselves, however, do not contribute to individual eigenvalues in the spectrum. An EBK-like quantization of the regular bouncing ball eigenstates in the stadium can be derived. The stadium billiard is thus an ideal model for studying the influence of almost regular dynamics near marginally stable boundaries on quantum mechanics.Comment: 27 pages, 6 figures, submitted to J. Phys.

Deformations and dilations of chaotic billiards, dissipation rate, and quasi-orthogonality of the boundary wavefunctions

We consider chaotic billiards in d dimensions, and study the matrix elements M_{nm} corresponding to general deformations of the boundary. We analyze the dependence of |M_{nm}|^2 on \omega = (E_n-E_m)/\hbar using semiclassical considerations. This relates to an estimate of the energy dissipation rate when the deformation is periodic at frequency \omega. We show that for dilations and translations of the boundary, |M_{nm}|^2 vanishes like \omega^4 as \omega -> 0, for rotations like \omega^2, whereas for generic deformations it goes to a constant. Such special cases lead to quasi-orthogonality of the eigenstates on the boundary.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Fredholm methods for billiard eigenfunctions in the coherent state representation

We obtain a semiclassical expression for the projector onto eigenfunctions by means of the Fredholm theory. We express the projector in the coherent state basis, thus obtaining the semiclassical Husimi representation of the stadium eigenfunctions, which is written in terms of classical invariants: periodic points, their monodromy matrices and Maslov indices.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev. E. Comments or questions to [email protected]

An efficient Fredholm method for calculation of highly excited states of billiards

A numerically efficient Fredholm formulation of the billiard problem is presented. The standard solution in the framework of the boundary integral method in terms of a search for roots of a secular determinant is reviewed first. We next reformulate the singularity condition in terms of a flow in the space of an auxiliary one-parameter family of eigenproblems and argue that the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions are analytic functions within a certain domain. Based on this analytic behavior we present a numerical algorithm to compute a range of billiard eigenvalues and associated eigenvectors by only two diagonalizations.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures; included systematic study of accuracy with 2 new figures, movie to Fig. 4, http://www.quantumchaos.de/Media/0703030media.av

Localization of Eigenfunctions in the Stadium Billiard

We present a systematic survey of scarring and symmetry effects in the stadium billiard. The localization of individual eigenfunctions in Husimi phase space is studied first, and it is demonstrated that on average there is more localization than can be accounted for on the basis of random-matrix theory, even after removal of bouncing-ball states and visible scars. A major point of the paper is that symmetry considerations, including parity and time-reversal symmetries, enter to influence the total amount of localization. The properties of the local density of states spectrum are also investigated, as a function of phase space location. Aside from the bouncing-ball region of phase space, excess localization of the spectrum is found on short periodic orbits and along certain symmetry-related lines; the origin of all these sources of localization is discussed quantitatively and comparison is made with analytical predictions. Scarring is observed to be present in all the energy ranges considered. In light of these results the excess localization in individual eigenstates is interpreted as being primarily due to symmetry effects; another source of excess localization, scarring by multiple unstable periodic orbits, is smaller by a factor of $\sqrt{\hbar}$.Comment: 31 pages, including 10 figure

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

Periodic orbit quantization of a Hamiltonian map on the sphere

In a previous paper we introduced examples of Hamiltonian mappings with phase space structures resembling circle packings. It was shown that a vast number of periodic orbits can be found using special properties. We now use this information to explore the semiclassical quantization of one of these maps.Comment: 23 pages, REVTEX

Relevance of Chaos in Numerical Solutions of Quantum Billiards

In this paper we have tested several general numerical methods in solving the quantum billiards, such as the boundary integral method (BIM) and the plane wave decomposition method (PWDM). We performed extensive numerical investigations of these two methods in a variety of quantum billiards: integrable systens (circles, rectangles, and segments of circular annulus), Kolmogorov-Armold-Moser (KAM) systems (Robnik billiards), and fully chaotic systems (ergodic, such as Bunimovich stadium, Sinai billiard and cardiod billiard). We have analyzed the scaling of the average absolute value of the systematic error $\Delta E$ of the eigenenergy in units of the mean level spacing with the density of discretization $b$ (which is number of numerical nodes on the boundary within one de Broglie wavelength) and its relationship with the geometry and the classical dynamics. In contradistinction to the BIM, we find that in the PWDM the classical chaos is definitely relevant for the numerical accuracy at a fixed density of discretization $b$. We present evidence that it is not only the ergodicity that matters, but also the Lyapunov exponents and Kolmogorov entropy. We believe that this phenomenon is one manifestation of quantum chaos.Comment: 20 Revtex pages, 10 Eps figure