Quantum Scars — Stadium Billiard

Eigenstates enhanced along unstable classical periodic orbits

Quantum number: n=8 | Scarring: visible
Quantum scars (Heller 1984): in a chaotic billiard like the Bunimovich stadium, most eigenstates are ergodic (uniform density). However, a finite fraction show anomalous enhancement along unstable periodic classical orbits — "scars". Shown: |ψ|² intensity computed via superposition of plane waves satisfying stadium boundary conditions, biased along chosen orbit family.