Chaotic Dynamics

After having closely re-examined the notion of a Lévy's stable vector, it is shown that the notion of a stable multivariate distribution is more general than previously defined. Indeed, a more intrinsic vector definition is obtained with the help of non isotropic dilations and a related notion of generalized scale. In this framework, the components of a stable vector may not only have distinct Levy's stability indices α 's, but the latter may depend on its norm. Indeed, we demonstrate that the Levy's stability index of a vector rather correspond to a linear application than to a scalar, and we show that the former should satisfy a simple spectral property.

We show that in the neighborhood of the tripling bifurcation of a periodic orbit of a Hamiltonian flow or of a fixed point of an area preserving map, there is generically a bifurcation that creates a ``twistless'' torus. At this bifurcation, the twist, which is the derivative of the rotation number with respect to the action, vanishes. The twistless torus moves outward after it is created, and eventually collides with the saddle-center bifurcation that creates the period three orbits. The existence of the twistless bifurcation is responsible for the breakdown of the nondegeneracy condition required in the proof of the KAM theorem for flows or the Moser twist theorem for maps. When the twistless torus has a rational rotation number, there are typically reconnection bifurcations of periodic orbits with that rotation number.

Geodesics deviation equation (GDE) is itroduced. In "adiabatic" approximation exact solution of the GDE if found. Perturbation theory in general case is formulated. Geometrical criterion of local instability which may lead to chaos is formulated.

We construct a semiclassical expression for the Husimi function of autonomous systems in one degree of freedom, by smoothing with a Gaussian function an expression that captures the essential features of the Wigner function in the semiclassical limit. Our approximation reveals the "center and chord" estructure that the Husimi function inherits from the Wigner function, down to very shallow "valleys", where lie the Husimi zeroes. This explanation for the distribution of zeroes along curves relies on the geometry of the classical torus, rather than the complex analytical properties of the WKB method in the Bargmann representation. We evaluate the zeroes for several examples.

Maslov indices in periodic-orbit theory are investigated using phase space path integral. Based on the observation that the Maslov index is the multi-valued function of the monodromy matrix, we introduce a generalized monodromy matrix in the universal covering space of the symplectic group and show that this index is uniquely determined in this space. The stability of the orbit is shown to determine the parity of the index, and a formula for the index of the n-repetition of the orbit is derived.

We investigate the influence of diffraction on the statistics of energy levels in quantum systems with a chaotic classical limit. By applying the geometrical theory of diffraction we show that diffraction on singularities of the potential can lead to modifications in semiclassical approximations for spectral statistics that persist in the semiclassical limit ℏ→0 . This result is obtained by deriving a classical sum rule for trajectories that connect two points in coordinate space.

The harmonic inversion method is applied in the case of the hydrogen atom in a magnetic field to extract classical information from the quantum photo-ionization cross-section. The study is made close to a saddle-node bifurcation for which the usual semi-classical formulas give diverging contributions. All quantities (actions, stabilities and Maslov indices) for real orbits above the bifurcation and for complex ghost orbits below the bifurcation, are found to be in excellent agreement with the modified semi-classical predictions based on a normal form approach.

The dynamics of Rydberg states of atomic hydrogen illuminated by resonant elliptically polarized microwaves is investigated both semiclassically and quantum mechanically in a simplified two-dimensional model of an atom. Semiclassical predictions for quasienergies of the system are found to be in a very good agreement with exact quantum data enabling a classification of possible types of motion and their dynamics with the change of the ellipticity of the microwaves. Particular attention is paid to the dynamics of the nonspreading wave packet states which are found to exist for an arbitrary microwave polarization.

Nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations often use mechanisms called thermostats to regulate the temperature. A Hamiltonian is presented for the case of the isoenergetic (constant internal energy) thermostat corresponding to a tunable isokinetic (constant kinetic energy) thermostat, for which a Hamiltonian has recently been given.

The divergence of the heat conductivity in the thermodynamic limit is investigated in 2d-lattice models of anharmonic solids with nearest-neighbour interaction from single-well potentials. Two different numerical approaches based on nonequilibrium and equilibrium simulations provide consistent indications in favour of a logarithmic divergence in "ergodic", i.e. highly chaotic, dynamical regimes. Analytical estimates obtained in the framework of linear-response theory confirm this finding, while tracing back the physical origin of this {\sl anomalous} transport to the slow diffusion of the energy of long-wavelength effective Fourier modes. Finally, numerical evidence of {\sl superanomalous} transport is given in the weakly chaotic regime, typically found below some energy density threshold.