Statistical wave scattering through classically chaotic cavities in the presence of surface absorption.

We propose a model to describe the statistical properties of wave scattering through a classically chaotic cavity in the presence of surface absorption. Experimentally, surface absorption could be realized by attaching an "absorbing patch" to the inner wall of the cavity. In our model, the cavity is connected to the outside by a waveguide with N open modes (or channels), while an experimental patch is simulated by an "absorbing mirror" attached to the inside wall of the cavity; the mirror, consisting of a waveguide that supports N(a) channels, with absorption inside and a perfectly reflecting wall at its end, is described by a subunitary scattering matrix S(a). The number of channels N(a) , as a measure of the geometric cross section of the mirror, and the lack of unitarity P(a) = [symbol: see text]N(a) - S(a)(+)S(a) , as a measure of absorption, are under our control: these parameters have an important physical significance for real experiments. The absorption strength in the cavity is quantified by gamma(a) = tr P(a). The statistical distribution of the resulting S matrix for N = 1 open channel and only one absorbing channel, N(a) = 1, is solved analytically for the orthogonal and unitary universality classes, beta = 1 and beta = 2, respectively, and the results are compared with those arising from numerical simulations. The relation with other models existing in the literature, in some of which absorption has a volumetric character, is also studied.