Irregular Atomic Systems And Quantum Chaos Pt 1

Irregular Atomic Systems and Quantum Chaos

Deals with the study of irregular behavior in few-body systems, with emphasis on the aspects of atomic physics. Areas covered include the atom in a magnetic field, microwave ionization of Rydberg atoms, and quasi-Wigner crystals in ion traps. All but one of the papers first appeared in volume 25 of the journal Comments on atomic and molecular physics. No index. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Irregular Atomic Systems and Quantum Chaos. Pt. 1

Quantum Signatures of Chaos

The warm reception of the first edition, as well as the tumultuous development of the field of quantum chaos have tempted me to rewrite this book and include some of the important progress made during the past decade. Now we know that quantum signatures of chaos are paralleled by wave signa tures. Whatever is undergoing wavy space-time variations, be it sound, electro magnetism, or quantum amplitudes, each shows exactly the same manifestations of chaos. The common origin is nonseparability of the pertinent wave equation; that latter "definition" of chaos, incidentally, also applies to classical mechanics if we see the Hamilton-Jacobi equation as the limiting case of a wave equation. At any rate, drums, concert halls, oscillating quartz blocks, microwave and opti cal oscillators, electrons moving ballistically or with impurity scattering through mesoscopic devices all provide evidence and data for wave or quantum chaos. All of these systems have deep analogies with billiards, much as the latter may have appeared of no more than academic interest only a decade ago. Of course, molec ular, atomic, and nuclear spectroscopy also remain witnesses of chaos, while the chromodynamic innards of nucleons are beginning to attract interest as methods of treatment become available.