Ray-splitting correction to the Weyl formula: experiment versus theory.

An abrupt change in the dielectric constant of media filling a microwave cavity was predicted by Prange et al. [Phys. Rev. E 53, 207 (1996)]] to produce a ray splitting correction to the Weyl formula for the mean staircase function of resonances. We present the first experimental confirmation of this effect. Our results with a quasi-two-dimensional cavity are directly relevant to the ray-splitting correction in two-dimensional quantal ray-splitting billiards.