Quantum chaos and the double-slit experiment

We report on the numerical simulation of the double-slit experiment, where the initial wave-packet is bounded inside a billiard domain with perfectly reflecting walls. If the shape of the billiard is such that the classical ray dynamics is regular, we obtain interference fringes whose visibility can be controlled by changing the parameters of the initial state. However, if we modify the shape of the billiard thus rendering classical (ray) dynamics fully chaotic, the interference fringes disappear and the intensity on the screen becomes the (classical) sum of intensities for the two corresponding one-slit experiments. Thus we show a clear and fundamental example in which transition to chaotic motion in a deterministic classical system, in absence of any external noise, leads to a profound modification in the quantum behaviour.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Drift of particles in self-similar systems and its Liouvillian interpretation

We study the dynamics of classical particles in different classes of spatially extended self-similar systems, consisting of (i) a self-similar Lorentz billiard channel, (ii) a self-similar graph, and (iii) a master equation. In all three systems the particles typically drift at constant velocity and spread ballistically. These transport properties are analyzed in terms of the spectral properties of the operator evolving the probability densities. For systems (i) and (ii), we explain the drift from the properties of the Pollicott-Ruelle resonance spectrum and corresponding eigenvectorsComment: To appear in Phys. Rev.

Steady-state conduction in self-similar billiards

The self-similar Lorentz billiard channel is a spatially extended deterministic dynamical system which consists of an infinite one-dimensional sequence of cells whose sizes increase monotonically according to their indices. This special geometry induces a nonequilibrium stationary state with particles flowing steadily from the small to the large scales. The corresponding invariant measure has fractal properties reflected by the phase-space contraction rate of the dynamics restricted to a single cell with appropriate boundary conditions. In the near-equilibrium limit, we find numerical agreement between this quantity and the entropy production rate as specified by thermodynamics

On the classical-quantum correspondence for the scattering dwell time

Using results from the theory of dynamical systems, we derive a general expression for the classical average scattering dwell time, tau_av. Remarkably, tau_av depends only on a ratio of phase space volumes. We further show that, for a wide class of systems, the average classical dwell time is not in correspondence with the energy average of the quantum Wigner time delay.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur

Poincar\'e recurrences in Hamiltonian systems with a few degrees of freedom

Hundred twenty years after the fundamental work of Poincar\'e, the statistics of Poincar\'e recurrences in Hamiltonian systems with a few degrees of freedom is studied by numerical simulations. The obtained results show that in a regime, where the measure of stability islands is significant, the decay of recurrences is characterized by a power law at asymptotically large times. The exponent of this decay is found to be $\beta \approx 1.3$. This value is smaller compared to the average exponent $\beta \approx 1.5$ found previously for two-dimensional symplectic maps with divided phase space. On the basis of previous and present results a conjecture is put forward that, in a generic case with a finite measure of stability islands, the Poncar\'e exponent has a universal average value $\beta \approx 1.3$ being independent of number of degrees of freedom and chaos parameter. The detailed mechanisms of this slow algebraic decay are still to be determined.Comment: revtex 4 pages, 4 figs; Refs. and discussion adde

Deterministic spin models with a glassy phase transition

We consider the infinite-range deterministic spin models with Hamiltonian $H=\sum_{i,j=1}^N J_{i,j}\sigma_i\sigma_j$, where $J$ is the quantization of a chaotic map of the torus. The mean field (TAP) equations are derived by summing the high temperature expansion. They predict a glassy phase transition at the critical temperature $T\sim 0.8$.Comment: 8 pages, no figures, RevTex forma

Resonances of the cusp family

We study a family of chaotic maps with limit cases the tent map and the cusp map (the cusp family). We discuss the spectral properties of the corresponding Frobenius--Perron operator in different function spaces including spaces of analytic functions. A numerical study of the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions is performed.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures. Submitted to J.Phys.

Spectral statistics for quantized skew translations on the torus

We study the spectral statistics for quantized skew translations on the torus, which are ergodic but not mixing for irrational parameters. It is shown explicitly that in this case the level--spacing distribution and other common spectral statistics, like the number variance, do not exist in the semiclassical limit.Comment: 7 pages. One figure, include

The triangle map: a model of quantum chaos

We study an area preserving parabolic map which emerges from the Poincar\' e map of a billiard particle inside an elongated triangle. We provide numerical evidence that the motion is ergodic and mixing. Moreover, when considered on the cylinder, the motion appear to follow a gaussian diffusive process.Comment: 4 pages in RevTeX with 4 figures (in 6 eps-files

Chaotic properties of quantum many-body systems in the thermodynamic limit

By using numerical simulations, we investigate the dynamics of a quantum system of interacting bosons. We find an increase of properly defined mixing properties when the number of particles increases at constant density or the interaction strength drives the system away from integrability. A correspondence with the dynamical chaoticity of an associated $c$-number system is then used to infer properties of the quantum system in the thermodynamic limit.Comment: 4 pages RevTeX, 4 postscript figures included with psfig; Completely restructured version with new results on mixing properties added