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Updated: Jul 12, 2026

Using Microwave and Macroscopic Samples of Dielectric Solids to Study the Photonic Properties of Disordered Photonic Bandgap Materials
Published on: September 26, 2014
Microwave study of quantum n-disk scattering
Abstract:
We describe a wave-mechanical implementation of classically chaotic n-disk scattering based on thin two-dimensional microwave cavities. Two-, three-, and four-disk scatterings are investigated in detail. The experiments, which are able to probe the stationary Green's function of the system, yield both frequencies and widths of the low-lying quantum resonances. The observed spectra are found to be in good agreement with calculations based on semiclassical periodic orbit theory. Wave-vector autocorrelation functions are analyzed for various scattering geometries, the small wave-vector behavior allowing one to extract the escape rate from the quantum repeller. Quantitative agreement is found with the value predicted from classical scattering theory. For intermediate energies, nonuniversal oscillations are detected in the autocorrelation function, reflecting the presence of periodic orbits.
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