| The correspondence between ray- and wave-dynamics in microcavities is of high interest e.g. to explain the emission properties of microlasers semiclassically. A recently proposed trace formula [Phys. Rev. E 78, 056202 (2008)] provides the semiclassical connection between the density of states of a dielectric cavity and the periodic orbits of the corresponding billiard. In order to test this trace formula experimentally, we have measured the spectra of passive dielectric microwave resonators of different shape and index of refraction. The length spectra were compared to the prediction of the trace formula and deviations were observed. These are attributed to the fact that only resonances with long lifetimes can be observed experimentally, and the systematics of observed and unobserved modes must be taken into account for an understanding of the experimental length spectra. The work presented in this talk was supported by the DFG within SFB 634. |
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