Transient Dynamics of Coherent Waves Released from Quantum Billiards and Analogous Observation from Free-Space Propagation of Laser Modes

Abstract

The transient dynamics of the eigenstates and coherent states released from a square quantum billiard is analytically and numerically investigated. It is experimentally verified that this transient dynamic can be analogously observed with the free-space propagation of the lasing modes emitted from the laterally confined, vertically emitted cavities. Furthermore, we exploit a chaotically shaped cavity to originally demonstrate the diffraction-in-time characteristics of the chaotic wave functions. It is found that the transient patterns of chaotic wave functions exhibit a striking feature of random branching behavior with the appearance of intricate interference fringes.