‘‘Quantum’’ chaos in billiards studied by microwave absorption

Abstract

The eigenfrequencies of resonance cavities shaped as stadium or Sinai billiards are determined by microwave absorption. In the applied frequency range 0--18.74 GHz the used cavities can be considered as two dimensional. For this case quantum-mechanical and electromagnetic boundary conditions are equivalent, and the resonance spectrum of the cavity is, if properly normalized, identical with the quantum-mechanical eigenvalue spectrum. Spectra, containing up to a thousand eigenfrequencies, are obtained within minutes. Statistical properties of the spectra as well as their correlation with classical periodic orbits are discussed.