Perttu Luukko & Esa Räsänen
Artists
Perttu Luukko & Esa Räsänen
Postdoctoral Reseacher (PL) and Professor of Physics (ER)
Department of Physics, Tampere University of Technology
Statement
We are two physicists on a quest to find truth and beauty in the world of quantum chaos. In these artworks we demonstrate the interplay between symmetry and complexity in quantum states for a single electron trapped in a nanoscale chaotic system. The quantum states have been computed with a highly efficient solver for the single-particle Schrödinger equation: P. J. J. Luukko and E. Räsänen, Comput. Phys. Comm. 184, 769 (2013).
Artworks
The question of chaos is central to the correspondence between quantum and classical dynamics. The artwork depicts a recently discovered mechanism of quantum scarring, where perturbing an otherwise symmetric system reveals the paths of classical periodic orbits in the quantum eigenfunctions.
A small variation to one of the simplest quantum model systems creates chaos and intricate detail. The artwork displays 24 high-energy eigenfunctions of a charged particle in a two-dimensional square box with a twist: a constant magnetic field perpendicular to the plane.