CPM Seminar

Ehrenfest-time dependence of weak localization in open quantum dots

Piet Brouwer

Cornell University

Weak localization is a small negative correction to the conductance, arising from interference of time-reversed trajectories. Semiclassical theory predicts that the weak localization correction to the conductance of a ballistic chaotic cavity is suppressed if the `Ehrenfest time' exceeds the dwell time in the cavity. The Ehrenfest time is the time necessary for a minimal wave packet to diverge a distance of the order of the size of the quantum dot. I'll review this semiclassical theory and report numerical simulations that confirm this prediction.