Normal forms and complex periodic orbits in semiclassical expansions of Hamiltonian systems

Patricio Leboeuf 1, Amaury Mouchet 2

Annals of Physics 275 (1999) 54

Bifurcations of periodic orbits as an external parameter is varied are a characteristic feature of generic Hamiltonian systems. Meyer’s classification of normal forms provides a powerful tool to understand the structure of phase space dynamics in their neighborhood. We provide a pedestrian presentation of this classical theory and extend it by including systematically the periodic orbits lying in the complex plane on each side of the bifurcation. This allows for a more coherent and unified treatment of contributions of periodic orbits in semiclassical expansions. The contribution of complex fixed points is find to be exponentially small only for a particular type of bifurcation (the extremal one). In all other cases complex orbits give rise to corrections in powers of $\hbar$ and, unlike the former one, their contribution is hidden in the ‘shadow’ of a real periodic orbit.

  • 1. Laboratoire de Physique Théorique et Modèles Statistiques (LPTMS),
    CNRS : UMR8626 – Université Paris XI – Paris Sud
  • 2. Laboratoire de Mathématiques et Physique Théorique (LMPT),
    CNRS : UMR6083 – Université François Rabelais – Tours
Retour en haut