Quantum signatures of chaos (Q5897172)

This by now classic text, through its three editions (1991, 2000, the current one is dated 2010) witnesses both the rapid growth of a new field of ``quantum chaology'' and its subsequent maturity period plus further developments. The new edition, modulo a number of minor amendments, is updated and expanded. The well established material on quantum signatures of irregular and chaotic motion, includes an exploitation of various results coming from random-matrix theory and the description of dissipative quantum systems. The major novelty of the present edition is a deeper account of an understanding of universal spectral fluctuations recently reached on the basis of periodic-orbit theory. To this end a new chapter on classical Hamiltonian chaos has been written, to set grounds for the analysis of a semiclassical role for classical orbits, with the Gutzwiller trace formula in mind. The periodic orbit bunches, characteristic of chaotic dynamics, prove to be the clue to a semiclassical explanation of universal fluctuations in quantum (quasi-)energy spectra. The semiclassical construction of a sigma model follows. The chapter on superanalysis for random-matrix theory has been extended, to give broader view of the Grassmannian book-keeping methods that facilitate a number of otherwise complex computations (like, e.g., handling of various determinants). The chapter on random-matrix theory includes an up-to-date treatement of an old topic in algebra, Newton's relations. That provides a background to the Riemann-Siegel description of semiclassical periodic-orbit theory. Each chapter is accompanied by a selection of problems which both test and deepen the reader understanding of the material presented. The text is both an introduction to and a survey of the field of quantum chaos. References to original research papers direct the reader to more advanced discussion of topics that were outlined in the present text.