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Recurrences Associated with a Classical Orbit in the Node of a Quantum Wave Function
Shaw, John A. Delos, John B. Courtney, Michael Kleppner, Daniel
Shaw, John A.
Delos, John B.
Courtney, Michael
Kleppner, Daniel
Abstract
Absorption spectra of atoms in magnetic fields reveal recurrences: manifestations of classical orbits (or quantum wave packets) that go out from the atom and later return. A formula from closed-orbit theory asserts that if the orbit lies on a node of the outgoing wave function, then the strength of the recurrence is zero. New quantum calculations, however, show that the recurrence strength is nonzero, though small. We derive a semiclassical formula for the recurrence strength associated with a classical orbit at a node of the quantum wave function. This formula is compared to the quantum mechanical calculation. Compared to other orbits, the recurrence is about 100 times weaker, and obeys a different classical scaling law.
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1995-11-01
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American Physical Society
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Physics
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https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.52.3695