Statistics of resonance width shifts as a signature of eigenfunction non-orthogonality

Abstract

We consider an open (scattering) quantum system under the action of a perturbation of its closed counterpart. It is demonstrated that the resulting shift of resonance widths is a sensitive indicator of the non-orthogonality of resonance wavefunctions, being zero only if those were orthogonal. Focusing further on chaotic systems, we employ random matrix theory to introduce a new type of parametric statistics in open systems, and derive the distribution of the resonance width shifts in the regime of weak coupling to the continuum.