Announcement  -- Please Post --  Nov 9 2003
NONLINEAR DYNAMICS: QUANTUM CHAOS 

INSTRUCTOR: Predrag Cvitanović
TIME: Spring semester 2004, Tue, Thu 09:35-10:55 in Howey S104
TEXT: Classical and Quantum Chaos webbook, ChaosBook.org.
COURSE HOME PAGE: www.cns.gatech.edu/PHYS-7224.
TEACHING METHOD: Two lectures per week, homework sets and a term project.
START: Thu, Jan 8 2004 in Howey S104


Graduate level introduction to recent developments in the theory of quantum chaos and its applications, with emphasis on the interplay between classical dynamics and quantum mechanics. The course has much in common with (and complements) graduate level field theory and quatum mechanics courses; partition functions and semi-classical evolution operators are applied to computation of quantum spectra of classically chaotic systems.
* Historical perspective - chaos in quantum mechanics.
* Semiclassical methods.
* Semiclassical quantization - Gutzwiller trace formula.
* Classical dynamics - periodic orbits.
* Spectroscopy of chaotic systems - dynamical zeta functions.
* Periodic orbit quantization of helium.
* Periodic orbit theory of diffraction and tunneling.
* Wave chaos.
* Random matrix theory.
The course is aimed at PhD students, postdoctoral fellows and advanced undergraduates in physics, mathematics, chemistry and engineering. A term project will take the place of a final exam. The term project will be individually tailored to student's level and research interests.

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Predrag Cvitanović, predrag.cvitanovic at physics.gatech.edu