Transition to Chaos

Based on courses given at the universities of Texas and California, this book treats an active field of research that touches upon the foundations of physics and chemistry. It presents, in as simple a manner as possible, the basic mechanisms that determine the dynamical evolution of both classical and quantum systems in sufficient generality to include quantum phenomena. The book begins with a discussion of Noether's theorem, integrability, KAM theory, and a definition of chaotic behavior; continues with a detailed discussion of area-preserving maps, integrable quantum systems, spectral properties, path integrals, and periodically driven systems; and concludes by showing how to apply the ideas to stochastic systems. The presentation is complete and self-contained; appendices provide much of the needed mathematical background, and there are extensive references to the current literature; while problems at the ends of chapters help students clarify their understanding. This new edition has an updated presentation throughout, and a new chapter on open quantum systems.

Linda E. Reichl, Ph.D., is a Professor of Physics at the University of Texas at Austin and is co-Director of the Center for Complex Quantum Systems. She has authored numerous papers on classical and quantum chaos theory and is author of the textbook “A Modern Course in Statistical Physics”, now in its fourth edition. She was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2000 for “original work in the field of quantum chaos”.