Statistics of resonance states in a weakly open chaotic cavity

TL;DR

This paper shows that non-Hermitian Random Matrix theory accurately describes the spectral and spatial statistics of resonance states in a weakly open chaotic microwave cavity with losses, validated by experimental and analytical comparisons.

Contribution

It demonstrates the applicability of non-Hermitian Random Matrix models to real chaotic wave systems with losses, bridging theory and experiment.

Findings

Good agreement between experimental data and non-Hermitian model predictions.

Resonance width distributions match analytical predictions.

Spectral and spatial statistics are well captured by the model.

Abstract

In this letter, we demonstrate that a non-Hermitian Random Matrix description can account for both spectral and spatial statistics of resonance states in a weakly open chaotic wave system with continuously distributed losses. More specifically, the statistics of resonance states in an open 2D chaotic microwave cavity are investigated by solving the Maxwell equations with lossy boundaries subject to Ohmic dissipation. We successfully compare the statistics of its complex-valued resonance states and associated widths with analytical predictions based on a non-Hermitian effective Hamiltonian model defined by a finite number of fictitious open channels.