Initial conditions of closed classical orbits from quantum spectra

A method is presented for determining the initial conditions of classical orbits from the quantum spectra of the diamagnetic hydrogen atom. Each classical trajectory which is closed at the nucleus produces a sinusoidal fluctuation in the photoabsorption spectrum. The amplitude of each orbit's contribution appears in the Fourier transform of a spectrum computed at constant scaled energy. For a given initial state, closed-orbit theory gives the dependence of this recurrence amplitude on the initial angle of an orbit. By comparing the recurrence amplitudes for different initial states, the initial conditions of closed classical orbits are determined from quantum spectra. (c) 1996 American Institute of Physics.