Quantum signatures of chaos in integrable systems

Abstract

Two fundamental quantum signatures of classically chaotic behaviour, large second derivatives and the logarithmic time barrier separating classical from quantum dynamics, have been observed near the separatrix of an integrable spin system. A systematic study in the neighbourhood of the separatrix reveals that the error in semiclassical eigenvalues (measured in units of the quantum level spacing) approaches a finite value at the classical limit. The generic factor which limits the validity of the correspondence principle is the presence of classical instabilities; chaotic behaviour is one such case; the separatrix of an integrable system is another.