Recurrences associated with a classical orbit in the node of a quantum wave function.

Abstract

Absorption spectra of atoms in magnetic fields reveal recurrences: manifestations of classical orbits (or quantum wave packets) that go out from the atom and later return. A formula from closed-orbit theory asserts that if the orbit lies on a node of the outgoing wave function, then the strength of the recurrence is zero. New quantum calculations, however, show that the recurrence strength is nonzero, though small. We derive a semiclassical formula for the recurrence strength associated with a classical orbit at a node of the quantum wave function. This formula is compared to the quantum mechanical calculation. Compared to other orbits, the recurrence is about 100 times weaker, and obeys a different classical scaling law.