Experimental investigation of the elastic enhancement factor in a microwave cavity emulating a chaotic scattering system with varying openness

Coupled unidirectional chaotic microwave graphs

We experimentally investigate the undirected open microwave network Γ with internal absorption composed of two coupled directed halves, unidirectional networks Γ_{+} and Γ_{-}, corresponding to two possible directions of motion on their edges. The two-port scattering matrix of the network Γ is measured and the spectral statistics and the elastic enhancement factor of the network are evaluated. The comparison of the number of experimental resonances with the theoretical one predicted by the Weyl's law shows that within the experimental resolution the resonances are doubly degenerate. This conclusion was also corroborated by the numerical calculations. Though the network is characterized by the time-reversal symmetry, the missing level spectral statistics and the elastic enhancement factor are rather close to the Gaussian unitary ensemble predictions in random matrix theory. We used numerical calculations for the open nondissipative quantum graph possessing the same structure as the microwave network Γ to investigate the doublet structures in the spectrum which otherwise would not be experimentally resolved. We show that the doublet size distribution is close to the Poisson distribution.

Experimental study of the elastic enhancement factor in a three-dimensional wave-chaotic microwave resonator exhibiting strongly overlapping resonances

We study the elastic enhancement factor and the two-point correlation function of the scattering matrix obtained from measurements of reflection and transmission spectra of a three-dimensional (3D) wave-chaotic microwave cavity in regions of moderate and large absorption. They are used to identify the degree of chaoticity of the system in the presence of strongly overlapping resonances, where other measures such as short- and long-range level correlations cannot be applied. The average value of the experimentally determined elastic enhancement factor for two scattering channels agrees well with random-matrix theory predictions for quantum chaotic systems, thus corroborating that the 3D microwave cavity exhibits the features of a fully chaotic system with preserved time-reversal invariance. To confirm this finding we analyzed spectral properties in the frequency range of lowest achievable absorption using missing-level statistics.

Enhancement factor in the regime of semi-Poisson statistics in a singular microwave cavity

We investigated properties of a singular billiard, that is, a quantum billiard which contains a pointlike (zero-range) perturbation. A singular billiard was simulated experimentally by a rectangular microwave flat resonator coupled to microwave power via wire antennas which act as singular scatterers. The departure from regularity was quantitatively estimated by the short-range plasma model in which the parameter η takes the values 1 and 2 for the Poisson and semi-Poisson statistics, respectively. We show that in the regime of semi-Poisson statistics the experimental power spectrum and the second nearest-neighbor-spacing distribution P(2,s) are in good agreement with their theoretical predictions. Furthermore, the measurement of the two-port scattering matrix allowed us to evaluate experimentally the enhancement factor F(γ^{tot}) in the regime of the semi-Poisson statistics as a function of the total absorption factor γ^{tot}. The experimental results were compared with the analytical formula for F(γ^{tot}) evaluated in this article. The agreement between the experiment and theory is good.

The Generalized Euler Characteristics of the Graphs Split at Vertices

We show that there is a relationship between the generalized Euler characteristic Eo(|VDo|) of the original graph that was split at vertices into two disconnected subgraphs i=1,2 and their generalized Euler characteristics Ei(|VDi|). Here, |VDo| and |VDi| denote the numbers of vertices with the Dirichlet boundary conditions in the graphs. The theoretical results are experimentally verified using microwave networks that simulate quantum graphs. We demonstrate that the evaluation of the generalized Euler characteristics Eo(|VDo|) and Ei(|VDi|) allow us to determine the number of vertices where the two subgraphs were initially connected.

A new spectral invariant for quantum graphs

The Euler characteristic i.e., the difference between the number of vertices |V| and edges |E| is the most important topological characteristic of a graph. However, to describe spectral properties of differential equations with mixed Dirichlet and Neumann vertex conditions it is necessary to introduce a new spectral invariant, the generalized Euler characteristic [Formula: see text], with [Formula: see text] denoting the number of Dirichlet vertices. We demonstrate theoretically and experimentally that the generalized Euler characteristic [Formula: see text] of quantum graphs and microwave networks can be determined from small sets of lowest eigenfrequencies. If the topology of the graph is known, the generalized Euler characteristic [Formula: see text] can be used to determine the number of Dirichlet vertices. That makes the generalized Euler characteristic [Formula: see text] a new powerful tool for studying of physical systems modeled by differential equations on metric graphs including isoscattering and neural networks where both Neumann and Dirichlet boundary conditions occur.

Missing-level statistics in a dissipative microwave resonator with partially violated time-reversal invariance

We report on the experimental investigation of the fluctuation properties in the resonance frequency spectra of a flat resonator simulating a dissipative quantum billiard subject to partial time-reversal-invariance violation (TIV) which is induced by two magnetized ferrites. The cavity has the shape of a quarter bowtie billiard of which the corresponding classical dynamics is chaotic. Due to dissipation it is impossible to identify a complete list of resonance frequencies. Based on a random-matrix theory approach we derive analytical expressions for statistical measures of short- and long-range correlations in such incomplete spectra interpolating between the cases of preserved time-reversal invariance and complete TIV and demonstrate their applicability to the experimental spectra.

Missing-level statistics in classically chaotic quantum systems with symplectic symmetry

We present experimental and theoretical results for the fluctuation properties in the incomplete spectra of quantum systems with symplectic symmetry and a chaotic dynamics in the classical limit. To obtain theoretical predictions, we extend the random-matrix theory (RMT) approach introduced in Bohigas and Pato [O. Bohigas and M. P. Pato, Phys. Rev. E 74, 036212 (2006)PLEEE81539-375510.1103/PhysRevE.74.036212] for incomplete spectra of quantum systems with orthogonal symmetry. We validate these RMT predictions by randomly extracting a fraction of levels from complete sequences obtained numerically for quantum graphs and experimentally for microwave networks with symplectic symmetry and then apply them to incomplete experimental spectra to demonstrate their applicability. Independently of their symmetry class, quantum graphs exhibit nongeneric features which originate from nonuniversal contributions. Part of the associated eigenfrequencies can be identified in the level dynamics of parameter-dependent quantum graphs and extracted, thereby yielding spectra with systematically missing eigenfrequencies. We demonstrate that, even though the RMT approach relies on the assumption that levels are missing at random, it is possible to determine the fraction of missing levels and assign the appropriate symmetry class by comparison of their fluctuation properties with the RMT predictions.

Application of topological resonances in experimental investigation of a Fermi golden rule in microwave networks

We investigate experimentally a Fermi golden rule in two-edge and five-edge microwave networks with preserved time reversal invariance. A Fermi golden rule gives rates of decay of states obtained by perturbing embedded eigenvalues of graphs and networks. We show that the embedded eigenvalues are connected with the topological resonances of the analyzed systems and we find the trajectories of the topological resonances on the complex plane.

How time-reversal-invariance violation leads to enhanced backscattering with increasing openness of a wave-chaotic system

We report on the experimental investigation of the dependence of the elastic enhancement, i.e., enhancement of scattering in the backward direction over scattering in other directions, of a wave-chaotic system with partially violated time-reversal (T) invariance on its openness. The elastic enhancement factor is a characteristic of quantum chaotic scattering which is of particular importance in experiments, like compound-nuclear reactions, where only cross sections, i.e., the moduli of the associated scattering matrix elements, are accessible. In the experiment a quantum billiard with the shape of a quarter bow tie, which generates a chaotic dynamics, is emulated by a flat microwave cavity. Partial T-invariance violation of varying strength 0≤ξ≲1 is induced by two magnetized ferrites. The openness is controlled by increasing the number M of open channels, 2≤M≤9, while keeping the internal absorption unchanged. We investigate the elastic enhancement as function of ξ and find that for a fixed M it decreases with increasing T-invariance violation, whereas it increases with increasing openness beyond a certain value of ξ≳0.2. The latter result is surprising because it is opposite to that observed in systems with preserved Tinvariance (ξ=0). We come to the conclusion that the effect of T-invariance violation on the elastic enhancement then dominates over the openness, which is crucial for experiments which rely on enhanced backscattering, since, generally, a decrease of the openness is unfeasible. Motivated by these experimental results, we performed theoretical investigations based on random matrix theory which confirm our findings.