Quantum decay of an open chaotic system: A semiclassical approach

Max-Planck-Institut für Strömungsforschung and Institut für Nichtlineare Dynamik Universität Göttingen - Bunsenstraße 10, D-37073 Göttingen, Germany

Received: 17 September 2004
Accepted: 12 November 2004

Abstract

We study the quantum probability to survive in an open chaotic system in the framework of the van Vleck-Gutzwiller propagator and present the first such calculation that accounts for quantum interference effects. Specifically, we calculate quantum deviations from the classical decay after the break time t^* for both broken and preserved time-reversal symmetry. The source of these corrections is identified in interfering pairs of correlated classical trajectories. In our approach the quantized chaotic system is modelled by a quantum graph.