Rabi oscillations at exceptional points in microwave billiards

We experimentally investigated the decay behavior with time t of resonances near and at exceptional points, where two complex eigenvalues and also the associated eigenfunctions coalesce. The measurements were performed with a dissipative microwave billiard, whose shape depends on two parameters. The t2 dependence predicted at the exceptional point on the basis of a two-state matrix model could be verified. Outside the exceptional point the predicted Rabi oscillations, also called quantum echoes in this context, were detected.