Quantum states resembling classical periodic trajectories in mesoscopic elliptic billiards

Abstract

A quantum wave function with localization on classical periodic orbits in a mesoscopic elliptic billiard has been achieved by appropriately superposing nearly degenerate eigenstates expressed as products of Mathieu functions. We analyze and discuss the rotational and librational regimes of motion in the elliptic billiard. Simplified line equations corresponding to the classical trajectories can be extracted from the quantum state as an integral equation involving angular Mathieu functions. The phase factors appearing in the integrals are connected to the classical initial positions and velocity components. We analyze the probability current density, phase maps, and vortex distributions of the periodic orbit quantum states for both rotational and librational motions; furthermore, they may represent traveling and standing trajectories inside the elliptic billiard.