Holger Schanz

SEMICLASSICAL QUANTIZATION OF BILLIARDS WITH MIXED BOUNDARY CONDITIONS

The semiclassical theory for billiards with mixed boundary conditions is developed and explicit expressions for the smooth and the oscillatory parts of the spectral density are derived. The parametric dependence of the spectrum on the boundary condition is shown to be a very useful diagnostic tool in the semiclassical analysis of the spectrum of billiards. It is also used to check in detail some recently proposed parametric spectral statistics. The methods are illustrated in the analysis of the spectrum of the Sinai billiard and its parametric dependence on the boundary condition on the dispersing arc.

Scars on quantum networks ignore the Lyapunov exponent.

We show that enhanced wave function localization due to the presence of short unstable orbits and strong scarring can rely on completely different mechanisms. Specifically we find that in quantum networks the shortest and most stable orbits do not support visible scars, although they are responsible for enhanced localization in the majority of the eigenstates. Scarring orbits are selected by a criterion which does not involve the classical stability. We obtain predictions for the energies of visible scars and the distributions of scarring strengths and inverse participation numbers.

Directed chaotic transport in Hamiltonian ratchets

We present a comprehensive account of directed transport in one-dimensional Hamiltonian systems with spatial and temporal periodicity. They can be considered as Hamiltonian ratchets in the sense that ensembles of particles can show directed ballistic transport in the absence of an average force. We discuss general conditions for such directed transport like a mixed classical phase space. A sum rule is derived which connects the contributions of different phase-space components to transport. We show that regular ratchet transport can be directed against an external potential gradient while chaotic ballistic transport is restricted to unbiased systems. For quantized Hamiltonian ratchets we study transport in terms of the evolution of wave packets and derive a semiclassical expression for the distribution of level velocities which encode the quantum transport in the Floquet band spectra. We discuss the role of dynamical tunneling between transporting islands and the chaotic sea and the breakdown of transport in quantum ratchets with broken spatial periodicity.

Form factor for a family of quantum graphs: an expansion to third order

For certain types of quantum graphs we show that the random matrix form factor can be recovered to at least third order in the scaled time τ from periodic-orbit theory. We consider the contributions from pairs of periodic orbits represented by diagrams with up to two self-intersections connected by up to four arcs and explain why all other diagrams are expected to give higher-order corrections only. For a large family of graphs with ergodic classical dynamics the diagrams that exist in the absence of time-reversal symmetry sum to zero. The mechanism for this cancellation is rather general which suggests that it also applies at higher orders in the expansion. This expectation is in full agreement with the fact that in this case the linear-τ contribution, the diagonal approximation, already reproduces the random matrix form factor for τ < 1. For systems with time-reversal symmetry there are more diagrams which contribute at third order. We sum these contributions for quantum graphs with uniformly hyperbolic dynamics, obtaining +2τ3, in agreement with random matrix theory. As in the previous calculation of the leading-order correction to the diagonal approximation we find that the third-order contribution can be attributed to exceptional orbits representing the intersection of diagram classes.

Leading off-diagonal correction to the form factor of large graphs

Using periodic-orbit theory beyond the diagonal approximation we investigate the form factor, K(tau), of a generic quantum graph with mixing classical dynamics and time-reversal symmetry. We calculate the contribution from pairs of self-intersecting orbits that differ from each other only in the orientation of a single loop. In the limit of large graphs, these pairs produce a contribution -2tau(2) to the form factor which agrees with random-matrix theory.

Spectral statistics for quantum graphs: Periodic orbits and combinatories

Abstract We consider the Schrödinger operator on graphs and study the spectral statistics of a unitary operator which represents the quantum evolution, or a quantum map on the graph. This operator is the quantum analogue of the classical evolution operator of the corresponding classical dynamics on the same graph. We derive a trace formula, which expresses the spectral density of the quantum operator in terms of periodic orbits on the graph, and show that one can reduce the computation of the two-point spectral correlation function to a well defined combinatorial problem. We illustrate this approach by considering an ensemble of simple graphs. We prove by a direct computation that the two-point correlation function coincides with the circular unitary ensemble expression for 2 × 2 matrices. We derive the same result using the periodic orbit approach in its combinatorial guise. This involves the use of advanced combinatorial techniques which we explain.

Quantization of Sinai's billiard—A scattering approach

Abstract We obtained the spectrum of the Sinai billiard as the zeros of a secular equation, which is based on the scattering matrix of a related scattering problem. We show that this quantization method provides an efficient numerical scheme, and its implementation for the present case gives a few thousands of levels without encountering any serious difficulty. We use the numerical data to check some approximations which are essential for the derivation of a semiclassical quantization method based also on this scattering approach.

Classical and quantum transport in deterministic Hamiltonian ratchets

We study directed transport in classical and quantum area-preserving maps, periodic in space and momentum. On the classical level, we show that a sum rule excludes directed transport of the entire phase space, leaving only the possibility of transport in (dynamically defined) subsets, such as regular islands or chaotic areas. As a working example, we construct a mapping with a mixed phase space where both the regular and the chaotic components support directed currents, but with opposite sign. The corresponding quantum system shows transport of similar strength, associated to the same subsets of phase space as in the classical map.

Shot noise in chaotic cavities from action correlations.

We consider universal shot noise in ballistic chaotic cavities from a semiclassical point of view and show that it is due to action correlations within certain groups of classical trajectories. Using quantum graphs as a model system we sum these trajectories analytically and find agreement with random-matrix theory. Unlike all action correlations which have been considered before, the correlations relevant for shot noise involve four trajectories and do not depend on the presence of any symmetry.

Universal spectral properties of spatially periodic quantum systems with chaotic classical dynamics

We consider a quasi one-dimensional chain of N chaotic scattering elements with periodic boundary conditions. The classical dynamics of this system is dominated by diffusion. The quantum theory, on the other hand, depends crucially on whether the chain is disordered or invariant under lattice translations. In the disordered case, the spectrum is dominated by Anderson localization whereas in the periodic case, the spectrum is arranged in bands. We investigate the special features in the spectral statistics for a periodic chain. For finite N, we define spectral form factors involving correlations both for identical and non-identical Bloch numbers. The short-time regime is treated within the semiclassical approximation, where the spectral form factor can be expressed in terms of a coarse-grained classical propagator which obeys a diffusion equation with periodic boundary conditions. In the long-time regime, the form factor decays algebraically towards an asymptotic constant. In the limit N → ∞, we derive a universal scaling function for the form factor. The theory is supported by numerical results for quasi one-dimensional periodic chains of coupled Sinai billiards.