Some Studies on Arithmetical Chaos in Classical and Quantum Mechanics

Abstract

Several aspects of classical and quantum mechanics applied to a class of strongly chaotic systems are studied. These consist of single particles moving without external forces on surfaces of constant negative Gaussian curvature whose corresponding fundamental groups are supplied with an arithmetic structure. It is shown that the arithmetic features of the considered systems lead to exceptional properties of the corresponding spectra of lengths of periodic orbits. The most significant one is an exponential growth of degeneracies in these length spectra. Furthermore, the arithmetical systems are distinguished by a structure that appears as a generalization of geometric symmetries. These pseudosymmetries occur in the quantization of the classical arithmetic systems as Hecke operators, which form an infinite algebra of self-adjoint operators commuting with the Hamiltonian. The statistical properties of quantum energies in the arithmetical have previously been identified as exceptional. They do not fit into the general scheme of random matrix theory. It is shown with the help of a simplified model for the spectral form factor how the spectral statistics in arithmetic quantum chaos can be understood by the properties of the corresponding classical length spectra. A decisive is played by the exponentially increasing multiplicities of lengths. The model developed for the level spacings distribution and for the number variance is compared to the corresponding quantities obtained from quantum energies for a specific arithmetical system.