Propagation of wave packets for systems presenting codimension one crossings (Q2041643)

The authors consider time-dependent Hamiltonians of pseudodifferential form with subquadratic growth. In particular, the authors analyze the propagation of wave packets through such Hamiltonian systems which present codimension one eigenvalue crossings. The general systems considered take the form \[ i \varepsilon \partial_t \psi^{\varepsilon} = \widehat{H}(t) \psi^{\varepsilon} \] where \[ \widehat{H}(t) = H(t, x, -i\varepsilon \nabla_x) \] is the semi-classical Weyl quantization of a time-dependent Hamiltonian \(H\). The authors present a new method which applies to general matrix-valued Hamiltonians with codimension one crossings of eigenvalues. In particular, they provide a unified computation of the transfer operator which describes the non-adiabatic interactions due to the crossing. As a result of this method the authors also generalize the semiclassical Herman-Klux approximation to systems with eigenvalue gaps.