Experimental observation of the spectral gap in microwave n-disk systems

Statistics of Complex Wigner Time Delays as a Counter of S-Matrix Poles: Theory and Experiment

We study the statistical properties of the complex generalization of Wigner time delay τ_{W} for subunitary wave-chaotic scattering systems. We first demonstrate theoretically that the mean value of the Re[τ_{W}] distribution function for a system with uniform absorption strength η is equal to the fraction of scattering matrix poles with imaginary parts exceeding η. The theory is tested experimentally with an ensemble of microwave graphs with either one or two scattering channels and showing broken time-reversal invariance and variable uniform attenuation. The experimental results are in excellent agreement with the developed theory. The tails of the distributions of both real and imaginary time delay are measured and are also found to agree with theory. The results are applicable to any practical realization of a wave-chaotic scattering system in the short-wavelength limit, including quantum wires and dots, acoustic and electromagnetic resonators, and quantum graphs.

Generalization of Wigner time delay to subunitary scattering systems

We introduce a complex generalization of the Wigner time delay τ for subunitary scattering systems. Theoretical expressions for complex time delays as a function of excitation energy, uniform and nonuniform loss, and coupling are given. We find very good agreement between theory and experimental data taken on microwave graphs containing an electronically variable lumped-loss element. We find that the time delay and the determinant of the scattering matrix share a common feature in that the resonant behavior in Re[τ] and Im[τ] serves as a reliable indicator of the condition for coherent perfect absorption (CPA). By reinforcing the concept of time delays in lossy systems this work provides a means to identify the poles and zeros of the scattering matrix from experimental data. The results also enable an approach to achieving CPA at an arbitrary frequency in complex scattering systems.

Chaotic scattering with localized losses: S-matrix zeros and reflection time difference for systems with broken time-reversal invariance

Motivated by recent studies of the phenomenon of coherent perfect absorption, we develop the random matrix theory framework for understanding statistics of the zeros of the (subunitary) scattering matrices in the complex energy plane, as well as of the recently introduced reflection time difference (RTD). The latter plays the same role for S-matrix zeros as the Wigner time delay does for its poles. For systems with broken time-reversal invariance, we derive the n-point correlation functions of the zeros in a closed determinantal form, and we study various asymptotics and special cases of the associated kernel. The time-correlation function of the RTD is then evaluated and compared with numerical simulations. This allows us to identify a cubic tail in the distribution of RTD, which we conjecture to be a superuniversal characteristic valid for all symmetry classes. We also discuss two methods for possible extraction of S-matrix zeros from scattering data by harmonic inversion.

Statistics of chaotic resonances in an optical microcavity

Distributions of eigenmodes are widely concerned in both bounded and open systems. In the realm of chaos, counting resonances can characterize the underlying dynamics (regular vs chaotic), and is often instrumental to identify classical-to-quantum correspondence. Here, we study, both theoretically and experimentally, the statistics of chaotic resonances in an optical microcavity with a mixed phase space of both regular and chaotic dynamics. Information on the number of chaotic modes is extracted by counting regular modes, which couple to the former via dynamical tunneling. The experimental data are in agreement with a known semiclassical prediction for the dependence of the number of chaotic resonances on the number of open channels, while they deviate significantly from a purely random-matrix-theory-based treatment, in general. We ascribe this result to the ballistic decay of the rays, which occurs within Ehrenfest time, and importantly, within the time scale of transient chaos. The present approach may provide a general tool for the statistical analysis of chaotic resonances in open systems.

Hierarchical fractal Weyl laws for chaotic resonance states in open mixed systems

In open chaotic systems the number of long-lived resonance states obeys a fractal Weyl law, which depends on the fractal dimension of the chaotic saddle. We study the generic case of a mixed phase space with regular and chaotic dynamics. We find a hierarchy of fractal Weyl laws, one for each region of the hierarchical decomposition of the chaotic phase-space component. This is based on our observation of hierarchical resonance states localizing on these regions. Numerically this is verified for the standard map and a hierarchical model system.