Quantum Chaos in Physical Systems: from Super Conductors to Quarks

Abstract

This article is the written version of a talk delivered at the Bexbach Colloquium of Science 2000 and starts with an introduction into quantum chaos and its relationship to classical chaos. The Bohigas-Giannoni-Schmit conjecture is formulated and evaluated within random-matrix theory. Several examples of physical systems exhibiting quantum chaos ranging from nuclear to solid state physics are presented. The presentation concludes with recent research work on quantum chromodynamics and the quark-gluon plasma. In the case of a chemical potential the eigenvalue spectrum becomes complex and one has to deal with non-Hermitian random-matrix theory.