Jared Wunsch : Decay of waves in trapping geometries

Posted by Christof Sparber , part of the Departmental Colloquium.

At

Feb. 15, 2013, 3 p.m.

In

SEO 636

Abstract

The principle of geometric optics postulates that "wavefronts" of solutions to the wave equation move along classical particle trajectories (i.e., geodesics). This principle has its limitations, though. For instance, we cannot localize a solution to the wave equation along a single closed geodesic forever: it eventually leaks away (essentially owing to the uncertainty principle). I will discuss some recent progress in quantifying the degree to which waves can be concentrated in regions of phase space invariant under a particle's dynamics.