Applications in Semiclassical and Quantum Physics
Bifurcation theory has been applied to connect quantum systems to the dynamics of their classical analogues in atomic systems, molecular systems, and resonant tunneling diodes. Bifurcation theory has also been applied to the study of laser dynamics and a number of theoretical examples which are difficult to access experimentally such as the kicked top and coupled quantum wells. The dominant reason for the link between quantum systems and bifurcations in the classical equations of motion is that at bifurcations, the signature of classical orbits becomes large, as Martin Gutzwiller points out in his classic work on quantum chaos. Many kinds of bifurcations have been studied with regard to links between classical and quantum dynamics including saddle node bifurcations, Hopf bifurcations, umbilic bifurcations, period doubling bifurcations, reconnection bifurcations, tangent bifurcations, and cusp bifurcations.
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