Quantum Chaos And Statistical Nuclear Physics

This volume contains the proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on `Quantum Chaos -- Theory and Experiment', held at the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, from 28 May to 1 June 1991. The work brings together leading quantum chaos theorists and experimentalists and greatly improves our understanding of the physics of quantum systems whose classical limit is chaotic. Quantum chaos is a subject of considerable current interest in a variety of fields, in particular nuclear physics, chemistry, statistical mechanics, atomic physics, condensed matter physics and nonlinear dynamics. The volume contains lectures about the currently most active fronts of quantum chaos, such as scars, semiclassical methods, quantum diffusion, random matrix spectra, quantum chaos in atomic and nuclear physics, and possible implications of quantum chaos for the problem of quantum measurement. Part of the book -- The Physics of Quantum Measurements -- is dedicated to the memory of John Bell.

This volume contains the proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on `Quantum Chaos -- Theory and Experiment', held at the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, from 28 May to 1 June 1991. The work brings together leading quantum chaos theorists and experimentalists and greatly improves our understanding of the physics of quantum systems whose classical limit is chaotic. Quantum chaos is a subject of considerable current interest in a variety of fields, in particular nuclear physics, chemistry, statistical mechanics, atomic physics, condensed matter physics and nonlinear dynamics. The volume contains lectures about the currently most active fronts of quantum chaos, such as scars, semiclassical methods, quantum diffusion, random matrix spectra, quantum chaos in atomic and nuclear physics, and possible implications of quantum chaos for the problem of quantum measurement. Part of the book -- The Physics of Quantum Measurements -- is dedicated to the memory of John Bell.

The study of quantum systems which are chaotic in the classical limit (quantum chaos or quantum chaology) is a very new field of research. Not long ago, it was still considered as an esoteric subject, however this attitude changed radically when it was realized that this subject is relevant to many of the more mature branches of physics. This book presents the accumulated knowledge available up until now and at the same time introduces topics which are being intensively studied at present. Their relevance to other fields such as condensed matter, atomic and nuclear physics is also discussed. The lectures have been divided into two rough categories - background and advanced lectures.

This book summarizes the recent development of nuclear science as an important part of mesoscopic physics, the intermediate world between the macroscopic and microscopic. This fast developing area with many practical applications includes complex atoms, molecules (including biological), nuclei, small-scale solid state systems, and future quantum computers. The complexity of the problem appears due to the richness of problems, from the necessity to study individual quantum levels, to the fundamental features of statistics and thermodynamics.

This overview of the state of the art of research in an exciting field mainly emphasizes the development of a semiclassical formalism that allows one to incorporate the effect of dissipation and decoherence in a precise, yet tractable way into the quantum mechanics of classically chaotic systems.

This book provides an understandable review of SU(3) representations, SU(3) Wigner–Racah algebra and the SU(3) ⊃ SO(3) integrity basis operators, which are often considered to be difficult and are avoided by most nuclear physicists. Explaining group algebras that apply to specific physical systems and discussing their physical applications, the book is a useful resource for researchers in nuclear physics. At the same time it helps experimentalists to interpret data on rotational nuclei by using SU(3) symmetry that appears in a variety of nuclear models, such as the shell model, pseudo-SU(3) model, proxy-SU(3) model, symplectic Sp(6, R) model, various interacting boson models, various interacting boson–fermion models, and cluster models. In addition to presenting the results from all these models, the book also describes a variety of statistical results that follow from the SU(3) symmetry.