Nonlinear Dynamics And Quantum Chaos

Past studies on chaos have been concerned with classical systems but this book is one of the first to deal with quantum chaos.

The field of nonlinear dynamics and chaos has grown very much over the last few decades and is becoming more and more relevant in different disciplines. This book presents a clear and concise introduction to the field of nonlinear dynamics and chaos, suitable for graduate students in mathematics, physics, chemistry, engineering, and in natural sciences in general. It provides a thorough and modern introduction to the concepts of Hamiltonian dynamical systems' theory combining in a comprehensive way classical and quantum mechanical description. It covers a wide range of topics usually not found in similar books. Motivations of the respective subjects and a clear presentation eases the understanding. The book is based on lectures on classical and quantum chaos held by the author at Heidelberg University. It contains exercises and worked examples, which makes it ideal for an introductory course for students as well as for researchers starting to work in the field.

This textbook is aimed at newcomers to nonlinear dynamics and chaos, especially students taking a first course in the subject. The presentation stresses analytical methods, concrete examples, and geometric intuition. The theory is developed systematically, starting with first-order differential equations and their bifurcations, followed by phase plane analysis, limit cycles and their bifurcations, and culminating with the Lorenz equations, chaos, iterated maps, period doubling, renormalization, fractals, and strange attractors.

This book introduces readers to the full range of current and background activity in the rapidly growing field of nonlinear dynamics. It uses a step-by-step introduction to dynamics and geometry in state space to help in understanding nonlinear dynamics and includes a thorough treatment of both differential equation models and iterated map models as well as a derivation of the famous Feigenbaum numbers. It is the only introductory book available that includes the important field of pattern formation and a survey of the controversial questions of quantum chaos. This second edition has been restructured for easier use and the extensive annotated references are updated through January 2000 and include many web sites for a number of the major nonlinear dynamics research centers. With over 200 figures and diagrams, analytic and computer exercises this book is a necessity for both the classroom and the lab.

This book is intended to give a survey of the whole field of nonlinear dynamics (or ?chaos theory?) in compressed form. It covers quite a range of topics besides the standard ones, for example, pde dynamics and Galerkin approximations, critical phenomena and renormalization group approach to critical exponents. The many meanings or measures of ?chaos? in the literature are summarized. A precise definition of chaos based on a carefully limited sensitive dependence is offered. An application to quantum chaos is made. The treatment does not emphasize mathematical rigor but insists that the crucial concepts and theorems be mathematically well-defined. Thus topology plays a basic role. This alone makes this book unique among short surveys, where the inquisitive reader must usually be satisfied with colorful similes, analogies, and hand-waving arguments.Richard Ingraham graduated with B.S. summa cum laude in mathematics from Harvard college and with M.A. and Ph.D in Physics from Harvard Graduate School. He was granted the Sheldon Prize Traveling Fellowship by Harvard College and was a member of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton for two years.

Our DMV Seminar on 'Classical Nonintegrability, Quantum Chaos' intended to introduce students and beginning researchers to the techniques applied in nonin tegrable classical and quantum dynamics. Several of these lectures are collected in this volume. The basic phenomenon of nonlinear dynamics is mixing in phase space, lead ing to a positive dynamical entropy and a loss of information about the initial state. The nonlinear motion in phase space gives rise to a linear action on phase space functions which in the case of iterated maps is given by a so-called transfer operator. Good mixing rates lead to a spectral gap for this operator. Similar to the use made of the Riemann zeta function in the investigation of the prime numbers, dynamical zeta functions are now being applied in nonlinear dynamics. In Chapter 2 V. Baladi first introduces dynamical zeta functions and transfer operators, illustrating and motivating these notions with a simple one-dimensional dynamical system. Then she presents a commented list of useful references, helping the newcomer to enter smoothly into this fast-developing field of research. Chapter 3 on irregular scattering and Chapter 4 on quantum chaos by A. Knauf deal with solutions of the Hamilton and the Schr6dinger equation. Scatter ing by a potential force tends to be irregular if three or more scattering centres are present, and a typical phenomenon is the occurrence of a Cantor set of bounded orbits. The presence of this set influences those scattering orbits which come close.

Nonlinear dynamics has been successful in explaining complicated phenomena in well-defined low-dimensional systems. Now it is time to focus on real-life problems that are high-dimensional or ill-defined, for example, due to delay, spatial extent, stochasticity, or the limited nature of available data. How can one understand the dynamics of such systems? Written by international experts, Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos: Where Do We Go from Here? assesses what the future holds for dynamics and chaos. The chapters address one or more of the broad and interconnected main themes: neural and biological systems, spatially extended systems, and experimentation in the physical sciences. The contributors offer suggestions as to what they see as the way forward, often in the form of open questions for future research.

The concept of phase space plays a decisive role in the study of the transition from classical to quantum physics. This is particularly the case in areas such as nonlinear dynamics and chaos, geometric quantization and the study of the various semi-classical theories, which are the setting of the present volume. Much of the content is devoted to the study of the Wigner distribution. This volume gives the first complete survey of the progress made by both mathematicians and physicists. It will serve as an excellent reference for further research.