We present a semiclassical technique that relies on replacing complicated classical manifold structure with simpler manifolds, which are then evaluated by the usual semiclassical rules. Under circumstances where the original manifold structure gives poor or useless results semiclassically the replacement manifolds can yield remarkable accuracy. We give several working examples to illustrate the theory presented here.

We explain the origin of the Kondo mirage seen in recent quantum corral Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM) experiments with a scattering theory of electrons on the surfaces of metals. Our theory combined with experimental data provides the first direct observation of a single Kondo atom phase shift. The Kondo mirage observed at the empty focus of an elliptical quantum corral is shown to arise from multiple electron bounces off the corral wall adatoms in a manner analagous to the formation of a real image in optics. We demonstrate our theory with direct quantitive comparision to experimental data. *This research was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. CHE9610501 and by ITAMP.

This paper presents a PDE-based, gradient-descent approach (GDA) to the EBK quantization of nearly separable Hamiltonians in the quasi-integrable regime. The method does this by finding an optimal semiclassical basis of invariant tori which minimizes the angular dependence of the Hamiltonian. This representation of the Hamiltonian is termed an intrinsic resonance representation (IRR), and it gives the smallest possible basis obtainable from classical mechanics. Because our method is PDE-based, we believe it to be significantly faster than previous IRR algorithms, making it possible to EBK quantize systems of higher degrees of freedom than previously studied. In this paper we demonstrate our method by reproducing results from a two-degree-of-freedom system used to demonstrate the previous Carioli, Heller, and Moller (CHM) implementation of the IRR approach. We then go on to show that our method can be applied to higher dimensional Hamiltonians than previously studied by using it to EBK quantize a four- and a six-degree-of-freedom system.

Scanning a charged tip above the two-dimensional electron gas inside a gallium arsenide/aluminum gallium arsenide nanostructure allows the coherent electron flow from the lowest quantized modes of a quantum point contact at liquid helium temperatures to be imaged. As the width of the quantum point contact is increased, its electrical conductance increases in quantized steps of 2e ²/h, where e is the electron charge and h is Planck's constant. The angular dependence of the electron flow on each step agrees with theory, and fringes separated by half the electron wavelength are observed. Placing the tip so that it interrupts the flow from particular modes of the quantum point contact causes a reduction in the conductance of those particular conduction channels below 2e ²/h without affecting other channels.

We consider chaotic billiards in d dimensions, and study the matrix elements Mnm corresponding to general deformations of the boundary. We analyze the dependence of |Mnm|2 on ω=(En−Em)/ħ using semiclassical considerations. This relates to an estimate of the energy dissipation rate when the deformation is periodic at frequency ω. We show that, for dilations and translations of the boundary, |Mnm|2 vanishes like ω4 as ω→0, for rotations such as ω2, whereas for generic deformations it goes to a constant. Such special cases lead to quasiorthogonality of the eigenstates on the boundary.

We consider a classically chaotic system that is described by a Hamiltonian H(Q,P;x), where x is a constant parameter. Specifically, we discuss a gas particle inside a cavity, where x controls a deformation of the boundary or the position of a "piston." The quantum eigenstates of the system are |n(x)>. We describe how the parametric kernel P(nmid R:m) = |<n(x)mid R:m(x(0))>|(2) evolves as a function of deltax = x-x(0). We explore both the perturbative and the nonperturbative regimes, and discuss the capabilities and the limitations of semiclassical as well as random waves and random-matrix-theory considerations.

Quantum and classical quasiresonant vibration-rotation energy transfer is investigated for ultracold He−H2 collisions. Classical trajectory computations show that extremely strong correlations between Δj and Δv persist at low energies, though the changes themselves are less than one quantum. Quantum computations show that quasiresonant transitions occur in the limit of zero collision energy but that threshold effects become important and that some quasiresonant channels close. The qualitative similarity between classical and quantum results suggests that they share a common mechanism.

A time domain approach employing the semiclassical approximation to the quantum mechanical propagator, as applied to Gaussian wavepackets, is used to study the barrier penetration problem. We have observed that qualitative agreement with the exact quantum calculations for the correlation function and the transmission probability can be achieved by considering only classically allowed trajectories. The results slowly tend to the classical step function at the barrier top as a function of the wavepacket center parameter, however. We suggest that a full semiclassical calculation, including nonclassical trajectories with complex energies, would improve the results.

The semiclassical approximation of Feynman’s path integral is used to calculate the S matrix for the positron-impact ionization of hydrogen. The formulation provides a full scattering amplitude, and more importantly does not require knowledge of the asymptotic three-body Coulomb state in the continuum. In the limit of vanishing excess energy, the results confirm Wannier’s classical model for fragmentation [Phys. Rev. 90, 817 (1953)]. The experimentally observable ratio of fragmentation versus total ionization (including positronium formation) is predicted.

The semiclassical techniques developed in the previous paper are applied to the understanding of the hierarchical structure underlying the spectra. This organization, as analyzed by Davis with statistical models, is revealed by continuously changing the energy resolution of the spectra and noting the branching pattern of the peaks. We argue that the greater part of this hierarchical organization can be understood with classical events in the time domain.

A semiclassical method for the propagation of arbitrary wave packets in a multidimensional Hamiltonian is presented. The method is shown to be valid for treating Hamiltonian systems whose classical phase space is a combination of chaotic and quasiperiodic motion (mixed dynamics). The propagation can be carried out long enough for the nonlinearities of the system to be important. The nonlinear dynamics is reflected in spectra and correlation functions. We suggest this new semiclassical method can be a tool for analyzing the nonlinear aspects of the vibrational spectra.

In a recent Letter [Phys. Rev. Lett. 67, 664 (1991)] we found semiclassical propagation to be remarkably accurate in the chaotic stadium billiard long after classical fine structure had developed on a scale much smaller than ħ. We give a complete account of that work and derive an approximate time scale for the validity of the semiclassical approximation as a function of ħ.

It has been a long-standing problem to understand the eigenfunctions of a system whose classical analog is strongly chaotic. We show that in some cases the eigenfunctions can be constructed by purely semiclassical calculations.

We review some of the issues facing semiclassical methods in classically chaotic systems, then demonstrate the long-time accuracy of semiclassical propagation of a nonstationary wave packet using the quantum baker's map of Balazs and Voros. We show why some of the standard arguments against the efficacy of semiclassical dynamics for long-time chaotic motion are incorrect.

We investigate the behavior of the quantum baker's transformation, a system whose classical analogue is completely chaotic, for time scales where the classical mechanics generates phase space structures on a scale smaller than Planck's constant (i.e., past the log time t^∗ ≈ ln ħ^-1). Surprisingly, we find that a semiclassical theory can accurately reproduce many features of the quantum evolution of a wave packet in this strongly mixing time regime.

A new semiclassical approach that constructs the full semiclassical Green’s function propagation of any initial wave function directly from an ensemble of real trajectories, without root searching, is presented. Each trajectory controls a cell of initial conditions in phase space, but the cell area is not constrained by Planck’s constant. The method is shown to be accurate for rather long times in anharmonic oscillators, indicating the semiclassical time‐dependent Green’s function is clearly worthy of more study. The evolution of wave functions in anharmonic potentials is examined and a spectrum from the semiclassical correlation function is calculated, comparing with exact fast Fourier transform results.