Quantum stress in chaotic billiards

This paper reports on a joint theoretical and experimental study of the Pauli quantum-mechanical stress tensor T_{alphabeta}(x,y) for open two-dimensional chaotic billiards. In the case of a finite current flow through the system the interior wave function is expressed as psi=u+iv . With the assumption that u and v are Gaussian random fields we derive analytic expressions for the statistical distributions for the quantum stress tensor components T_{alphabeta} . The Gaussian random field model is tested for a Sinai billiard with two opposite leads by analyzing the scattering wave functions obtained numerically from the corresponding Schrödinger equation. Two-dimensional quantum billiards may be emulated from planar microwave analogs. Hence we report on microwave measurements for an open two-dimensional cavity and how the quantum stress tensor analog is extracted from the recorded electric field. The agreement with the theoretical predictions for the distributions for T_{alphabeta}(x,y) is quite satisfactory for small net currents. However, a distinct difference between experiments and theory is observed at higher net flow, which could be explained using a Gaussian random field, where the net current was taken into account by an additional plane wave with a preferential direction and amplitude.