Topological changes of wave functions associated with Hamiltonian monodromy.

Almost everything that happens in classical mechanics also shows up in quantum mechanics when we know where to look for it. A phenomenon in classical mechanics involves topological changes in action-angle loops as a result of passage around a "monodromy circuit." This phenomenon is known by the short name "Hamiltonian monodromy" (or, more ponderously, "nontrivial monodromy of action and angle variables in integrable Hamiltonian systems"). In this paper, we show a corresponding change in quantum wave functions: These wave functions change their topological structure in the same way that the corresponding classical action-angle loops change.

Experimental Observation of Classical Dynamical Monodromy.

A Hamiltonian system is said to have nontrivial monodromy if its fundamental action-angle loops do not return to their initial topological state at the end of a closed circuit in angular momentum-energy space. This process has been predicted to have consequences which can be seen in dynamical systems, called dynamical monodromy. Using an apparatus consisting of a spherical pendulum subject to magnetic potentials and torques, we observe nontrivial monodromy by the associated topological change in the evolution of a loop of trajectories.

Dynamical monodromy.

Integrable Hamiltonian systems are said to display nontrivial monodromy if fundamental action-angle loops defined on phase-space tori change their topological structure when the system is carried around a circuit. In an earlier paper it was shown that this topological change can occur as a result of time evolution under certain rather abstract flows in phase space. In the present paper, we show that the same topological change can occur as a result of application of ordinary forces. We also show how this dynamical phenomenon could be observed experimentally in classical or in quantum systems.

Chaos-induced pulse trains in the ionization of hydrogen.

We predict that a hydrogen atom in parallel electric and magnetic fields, excited by a short laser pulse to an energy above the classical saddle, ionizes via a train of electron pulses. These pulses are a consequence of classical chaos induced by the magnetic field. We connect the structure of this pulse train (e.g., pulse size and spacing) to fractal structure in the classical dynamics. This structure displays a weak self-similarity, which we call "epistrophic self-similarity." We demonstrate how this self-similarity is reflected in the pulse train.

Geometry and topology of escape. I. Epistrophes.

We consider a dynamical system given by an area-preserving map on a two-dimensional phase plane and consider a one-dimensional line of initial conditions within this plane. We record the number of iterates it takes a trajectory to escape from a bounded region of the plane as a function along the line of initial conditions, forming an "escape-time plot." For a chaotic system, this plot is in general not a smooth function, but rather has many singularities at which the escape time is infinite; these singularities form a complicated fractal set. In this article we prove the existence of regular repeated sequences, called "epistrophes," which occur at all levels of resolution within the escape-time plot. (The word "epistrophe" comes from rhetoric and means "a repeated ending following a variable beginning.") The epistrophes give the escape-time plot a certain self-similarity, called "epistrophic" self-similarity, which need not imply either strict or asymptotic self-similarity.

Geometry and topology of escape. II. Homotopic lobe dynamics.

We continue our study of the fractal structure of escape-time plots for chaotic maps. In the preceding paper, we showed that the escape-time plot contains regular sequences of successive escape segments, called epistrophes, which converge geometrically upon each end point of every escape segment. In the present paper, we use topological techniques to: (1) show that there exists a minimal required set of escape segments within the escape-time plot; (2) develop an algorithm which computes this minimal set; (3) show that the minimal set eventually displays a recursive structure governed by an "Epistrophe Start Rule:" a new epistrophe is spawned Delta=D+1 iterates after the segment to which it converges, where D is the minimum delay time of the complex.

Order and chaos in semiconductor microstructures.

The semiclassical theory of ballistic electron transport in semiconductor microstructures provides a description of the quantum conductance fluctuations in terms of the classical distributions for the lengths and directed areas of the scattering trajectories. Because the classical dynamics differs for integrable (circular) and chaotic (stadium) scattering domains, experimental measurements of the conductance of these microstructures provide a unique probe of the quantum properties of classically regular and chaotic systems. To advance these theoretical and experimental studies we compare geometrical formulas for the classical distributions of lengths and areas with numerical simulations for microstructures examined in recent experiments, we assess the effects of lead size and placement, and we provide a critical analysis of the role of scattering "noise" on the classical and semiclassical predictions. Finally, we present a detailed comparison of the semiclassical theory with recent experimental measurements of the conductance fluctuations in circular- and stadium-shaped microstructures.