Search

We discuss several problems in quasiclassical physics for which approximate solutions were recently obtained by a new method, and which can also be solved by novel versions of the Born-Oppenheimer approximation. These cases include the so-called bouncing ball modes, low angular momentum states in perturbed circular billiards, resonant states in perturbed rectangular billiards, and whispering gallery modes. Some rare, special eigenstates, concentrated close to the edge or along a diagonal of a nearly rectangular billiard are found. This kind of state has apparently previously escaped notice., Comment: 9 pages, 7 eps figures

Special quantum states exist which are quasiclassical quantizations of regions of phase space that are weakly chaotic. In a weakly chaotic region, the orbits are quite regular and remain in the region for some time before escaping and manifesting possible chaotic behavior. Such phase space regions are characterized as being close to periodic orbits of an integrable reference system. The states are often rather striking, and can be concentrated in spatial regions. This leads to possible phenomena. We review some methods we have introduced to characterize such regions and find analytic formulas for the special states and their energies., Comment: 9 pages, 8 eps figures

Eigenstates and energy levels of a square quantum billiard in a magnetic field, or with an Aharonov-Bohm flux line, are found in quasiclassical approximation, that is, for high enough energy. Explicit formulas for the energy levels and wavefunctions are found. A number of interesting states are shown, together with their wavefunctions. Some states are diamagnetic, others paramagnetic, still others both dia- and paramagnetic. Some states are strongly localized. Related systems and possible experiments are briefly mentioned., Comment: 15 pages, 14 eps figures; added the following comment about the availability of figures: the higher quality figures are available in postscript from the authors at ozaitsev@physics.umd.edu

Eigenstates and energy levels of a square quantum billiard in a magnetic field, or with an Aharonov-Bohm flux line, are found in quasiclassical approximation, that is, for high enough energy. Explicit formulas for the energy levels and wavefunctions are found. There are localized states, never before noticed in this well studied problem, whose localization is due to phase interference, even though there is no or negligible classical effect of the magnetic field. These and related states account almost entirely for the magnetic response in certain temperature ranges, and thus have a bearing on the experiments of Levy et al., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures

The trace formulas commonly used in discussing spectral properties of quantum or wave systems are derived simply and directly from the Bogomolny transfer operator. Special cases are the Gutzwiller formula, the Berry-Tabor formula, and the perturbed Berry-Tabor formula. A comment is made about interpolation formulas proposed in the latter case., Comment: 6 pages, 3 eps figures

Perturbation theory, the quasiclassical approximation and the quantum surface of section method are combined for the first time. This gives a new solution of the the long standing problem of quantizing the resonances generically appearing in classical perturbation theory. Our method is restricted to two dimensions. In that case, however, the results are simpler, more explicit and more easily expressed visually than the results of earlier techniques. The method involves expanding the `phase' of the wavefunction in powers of the square root of the small parameter. It gives explicit WKB-like wavefunctions and energies even for certain systems which classically show hard chaos., Comment: 19 pages, LaTeX, 10 figures, 2 tables

The spectral form factor, k(t), is the Fourier transform of the two level correlation function C(x), which is the averaged probability for finding two energy levels spaced x mean level spacings apart. The average is over a piece of the spectrum of width W in the neighborhood of energy E0. An additional ensemble average is traditionally carried out, as in random matrix theory. Recently a theoretical calculation of k(t) for a single system, with an energy average only, found interesting nonuniversal semiclassical effects at times t approximately unity in units of {Planck's constant) /(mean level spacing). This is of great interest if k(t) is self-averaging, i.e, if the properties of a typical member of the ensemble are the same as the ensemble average properties. We here argue that this is not always the case, and that for many important systems an ensemble average is essential to see detailed properties of k(t). In other systems, notably the Riemann zeta function, it is likely possible to see the properties by an analysis of the spectrum., Comment: 4 pages, RevTex, no figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett., permanent e-mail address, prange@quantum.umd.edu

We directly combine ideas of the quasiclassical approximation with random matrix theory and apply them to the study of the spectrum, in particular to the two-level correlator. Bogomolny's transfer operator T, quasiclassically an NxN unitary matrix, is considered to be a random matrix. Rather than rejecting all knowledge of the system, except for its symmetry, [as with Dyson's circular unitary ensemble], we choose an ensemble which incorporates the knowledge of the shortest periodic orbits, the prime quasiclassical information bearing on the spectrum. The results largely agree with expectations but contain novel features differing from other recent theories., Comment: 4 pages, RevTex, submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett., permanent e-mail prange@quantum.umd.edu