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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.avi

Dielectric optical micro-resonators and micro-lasers represent a realization of a wave-chaotic system, where the lack of symmetry in the resonator shape leads to non-integrable ray dynamics. Modes of such resonators display a rich spatial structure, and cannot be classified through mode indices which would require additional constants of motion in the ray dynamics. Understanding and controlling the emission properties of such resonators requires the investigation of the correspondence between classical phase space structures of the ray motion inside the resonator and resonant solutions of the wave equations. We first discuss the breakdown of the conventional eikonal approximation in the short wavelength limit, and motivate the use of phase-space ray tracing and phase space distributions. Next, we introduce an efficient numerical method to calculate the quasi-bound modes of dielectric resonators, which requires only two diagonalizations per N states, where N is approximately equal to the number of half-wavelengths along the perimeter. The relationship between classical phase space structures and modes is displayed via the Husimi projection technique. Observables related to the emission pattern of the resonator are calculated with high efficiency., Comment: 33 pages, 16 figures, RevTeX 4

Recent experiments on similarly shaped polymer micro-cavity lasers show a dramatic difference in the far-field emission patterns. We show for different deformations of the ellipse, quadrupole and hexadecapole that the large differences in the far-field emission patterns is explained by the differing ray dynamics corresponding to each shape. Analyzing the differences in the appropriate phase space for ray motion, it is shown that the differing geometries of the unstable manifolds of periodic orbits are the decisive factors in determining the far-field pattern. Surprisingly, we find that strongly chaotic ray dynamics is compatible with highly directional emission in the far-field., Comment: 14 pages, 16 figures (eps), RevTeX 4, submitted to JOSA B