Estimating generating partitions of chaotic systems by unstable periodic orbits

An outstanding problem in chaotic dynamics is to specify generating partitions for symbolic dynamics in dimensions larger than 1. It has been known that the infinite number of unstable periodic orbits embedded in the chaotic invariant set provides sufficient information for estimating the generating partition. Here we present a general, dimension-independent, and efficient approach for this task based on optimizing a set of proximity functions defined with respect to periodic orbits. Our algorithm allows us to obtain the approximate location of the generating partition for the Ikeda-Hammel-Jones-Moloney map.     

Periodic orbit analysis at the onset of the unstable dimension variability and at the blowout bifurcation

Many chaotic dynamical systems of physical interest present a strong form of nonhyperbolicity called unstable dimension variability (UDV), for which the chaotic invariant set contains periodic orbits possessing different numbers of unstable eigendirections. The onset of UDV is usually related to the loss of transversal stability of an unstable fixed point embedded in the chaotic set. In this paper, we present a new mechanism for the onset of UDV, whereby the period of the unstable orbits losing transversal stability tends to infinity as we approach the onset of UDV. This mechanism is unveiled by means of a periodic orbit analysis of the invariant chaotic attractor for two model dynamical systems with phase spaces of low dimensionality, and seems to depend heavily on the chaotic dynamics in the invariant set. We also described, for these systems, the blowout bifurcation (for which the chaotic set as a whole loses transversal stability) and its relation with the situation where the effects of UDV are the most intense. For the latter point, we found that chaotic trajectories off, but very close to, the invariant set exhibit the same scaling characteristic of the so-called on-off intermittency.     

Chaotic scattering on a double well: Periodic orbits,symbolic dynamics,and scaling

We investigate classical scattering of particles by a double-well potential. Irregularity in the scattering functions, such as scattering angle and escape time, appears when the collision energy is lowered below a threshold value. This threshold is closely related to the appearance of periodic orbits with energies above the potential maxima. We study the scattering as a function of the energy and impact parameter. In this initial parameter space the scattering functions consist of regular regions interlaced with chaotic rivers. A symbolic dynamics has been developed to organize these structures and used to reveal their scaling properties.     

Characterization of transition to chaos with multiple positive Lyapunov exponents by unstable periodic orbits

We investigate how the transition to chaos with multiple positive Lyapunov exponents can be characterized by the set of infinite number of unstable periodic orbits embedded in the chaotic invariant set. We argue and provide numerical confirmation that the transition is generally accompanied by a nonhyperbolic behavior: unstable dimension variability. As a consequence, the Lyapunov exponents, except for the largest one, pass through zero continuously.     

Efficient topological chaos embedded in the blinking vortex system

We consider the particle mixing in the plane by two vortex points appearing one after the other, called the blinking vortex system. Mathematical and numerical studies of the system reveal that the chaotic particle mixing, i.e., the chaotic advection, is observed due to the homoclinic chaos, but the mixing region is restricted locally in the neighborhood of the vortex points. The present article shows that it is possible to realize a global and efficient chaotic advection in the blinking vortex system with the help of the Thurston-Nielsen theory, which classifies periodic orbits for homeomorphisms in the plane into three types: periodic, reducible, and pseudo-Anosov (pA). It is mathematically shown that periodic orbits of pA type generate a complicated dynamics, which is called topological chaos. We show that the combination of the local chaotic mixing due to the topological chaos and the dipole-like return orbits realize an efficient and global particle mixing in the blinking vortex system.     

Phase space structure and chaotic scattering in near-integrable systems

We investigate the bifurcation phenomena and the change in phase space structure connected with the transition from regular to chaotic scattering in classical systems with unbounded dynamics. The regular systems discussed in this paper are integrable ones in the sense of Liouville, possessing a degenerated unstable periodic orbit at infinity. By means of a McGehee transformation the degeneracy can be removed and the usual Melnikov method is applied to predict homoclinic crossings of stable and unstable manifolds for the perturbed system. The chosen examples are the perturbed radial Kepler problem and two kinetically coupled Morse oscillators with different potential parameters which model the stretching dynamics in ABC molecules. The calculated subharmonic and homoclinic Melnikov functions can be used to prove the existence of chaotic scattering and of elliptic and hyperbolic periodic orbits, to calculate the width of the main stochastic layer and of the resonances, and to predict the range of initial conditions where singularities in the scattering function are found. In the second example the value of the perturbation parameter at which channel transitions set in is calculated. The theoretical results are supplemented by numerical experiments.     

Irregular scattering of acoustic rays by vortices

The scattering of high-frequency sound wave, under geometrical acoustic approximation, by three stationary vortices in two dimensions is investigated. For a sufficiently high Mach number of the vortex flow, the scattering of sound rays becomes irregular, displaying a new example of chaotic scattering for a time-reversal breaking system. The fractal dimension, as well as the unstable and stable manifolds of the scattering dynamics, is presented.     

Stickiness in mushroom billiards

We investigate the dynamical properties of chaotic trajectories in mushroom billiards. These billiards present a well-defined simple border between a single regular region and a single chaotic component. We find that the stickiness of chaotic trajectories near the border of the regular region occurs through an infinite number of marginally unstable periodic orbits. These orbits have zero measure, thus not affecting the ergodicity of the chaotic region. Notwithstanding, they govern the main dynamical properties of the system. In particular, we show that the marginally unstable periodic orbits explain the periodicity and the power-law behavior with exponent gamma=2 observed in the distribution of recurrence times.     

Dust trapping in vortex pairs

The motion of tiny heavy particles transported in a co-rotating point vortex pair, with or without particle inertia and sedimentation, is investigated. The dynamics of non-inertial sedimenting particles is shown to be chaotic, under the combined effects of gravity and of the circular displacement of the vortices. This phenomenon is very sensitive to the particles’ inertia, if any. By using a nearly hamiltonian dynamical system theory for the particles’ motion equation written in the rotating reference frame, one can show that small inertia terms of the particles’ motion equation strongly modify the Melnikov function of the homoclinic trajectories and heteroclinic cycles of the unperturbed system, as soon as the particles’ response time is of the order of the settling time (Froude number of order unity). The critical Froude number above which chaotic motion vanishes and a regular centrifugation takes place is obtained from this Melnikov analysis and compared to numerical simulations. Particles with a finite inertia, and in the absence of gravity, are not necessarily centrifuged away from the vortex system. Indeed, these particles can have various equilibrium positions in the rotating reference frame, like the Lagrange points of celestial mechanics, according to whether their Stokes number is smaller or larger than some critical value. An analytical stability analysis reveals that two of these points are stable attracting points, so that permanent trapping can occur for inertial particles injected in an isolated co-rotating vortex pair. Particle trapping is observed to persist when viscosity, and therefore vortex coalescence, is taken into account. Numerical experiments at large but finite Reynolds number show that particles can indeed be trapped temporarily during vortex roll-up, and are eventually centrifuged away once vortex coalescence occurs.     

The localization properties of a random steady flow on a lattice

We consider a random stationary vector field on a multidimensional lattice and investigate flow-connected subsets of the lattice invariant under the action of the associated flow. The subsets of primary interest are cycles, and vortices each of which is the set of orbits terminating in the same cycle. We prove that with probability 1 each vortex only involves a finite number of sites of the lattice. Under the assumption of independence of the vector field in different sites, we find that with probability 1 the vortices exhaust all possible maximal flowconnected invariant subsets of the lattice if and only if the probability of existence of a cycle is positive. Thus, if cycles exist, a particle under the action of the flow only moves within a bounded region, i.e., it is completely localized.     

动力学变换法探测连续系统不稳定周期轨道

本文利用动力学变换方法和庞加莱截面方法对两种连续混沌动力学系统进行不稳定周期轨道探测研究, 并对Lorenz系统进行了替代数据法检验.结果表明:基于庞加莱截面的动力学变换改进算法 可有效探测连续混沌动力学系统中的不稳定周期轨道.     

A simple model of chaotic advection and scattering

In this work, we study a blinking vortex-uniform stream map. This map arises as an idealized, but essential, model of time-dependent convection past concentrated vorticity in a number of fluid systems. The map exhibits a rich variety of phenomena, yet it is simple enough so as to yield to extensive analytical investigation. The map's dynamics is dominated by the chaotic scattering of fluid particles near the vortex core. Studying the paths of fluid particles, it is seen that quantities such as residence time distributions and exit-vs-entry positions scale in self-similar fashions. A bifurcation is identified in which a saddle fixed point is created upstream at infinity. The homoclinic tangle formed by the transversely intersecting stable and unstable manifolds of this saddle is principally responsible for the observed self-similarity. Also, since the model is simple enough, various other properties are quantified analytically in terms of the circulation strength, stream velocity, and blinking period. These properties include: entire hierarchies of fixed points and periodic points, the parameter values at which these points undergo conservative period-doubling bifurcations, the structure of the unstable manifolds of the saddle fixed and periodic points, and the detailed structure of the resonance zones inside the vortex core region. A connection is made between a weakly dissipative version of our map and the Ikeda map from nonlinear optics. Finally, we discuss the essential ingredients that our model contains for studying how chaotic scattering induced by time-dependent flow past vortical structures produces enhanced diffusivities. (c) 1995 American Institute of Physics.     

Dynamical properties for an ensemble of classical particles moving in a driven potential well with different time perturbation

We consider dynamical properties for an ensemble of classical particles confined to an infinite box of potential and containing a time-dependent potential well described by different nonlinear functions. For smooth functions, the phase space contains chaotic trajectories, periodic islands and invariant spanning curves preventing the unlimited particle diffusion along the energy axis. Average properties of the chaotic sea are characterised as a function of the control parameters and exponents describing their behaviour show no dependence on the perturbation functions. Given invariant spanning curves are present in the phase space, a sticky region was observed and show to modify locally the diffusion of the particles.     

A dynamical system with a strange attractor and invariant tori

This paper describes a simple three-dimensional time-reversible system of ODEs with quadratic nonlinearities and the unusual property that it is exhibits conservative behavior for some initial conditions and dissipative behavior for others. The conservative regime has quasi-periodic orbits whose amplitude depend on the initial conditions, while the dissipative regime is chaotic. Thus a strange attractor coexists with an infinite set of nested invariant tori in the state space.     

Fluid particle advection in the vicinity of the Föppl vortex system

Fluid particle advection in the vicinity of the Föppl vortex system is considered. Due to periodic motion of vortices about the Föppl equilibrium, fluid particles within the vortex atmosphere, the fluid region with a velocity field being induced by the vortices, can move chaotic in the sense of exponential divergence of near trajectories. This chaotic motion leads to the vortex atmosphere particles to be carried away from the atmosphere to the exterior flow. In this Letter, the part of the carried away fluid particles is numerically assessed and the dynamics of the fluid release from the vortex atmosphere is demonstrated.     

Chaotic Dynamics of Test Particle in the Gravitational Field with Magnetic Dipoles

We investigate the dynamics of the test particle in the gravitational field with magnetic dipoles in thispaper. At first we study the gravitational potential by numerical simulations. We find, for appropriate parameters, thatthere are two different cases in the potential curve, one of which is the one-well case with a stable critical point, and theother is the three-well case with three stable critical points and two unstable ones. As a consequence, the chaotic motionwill rise. By performing the evolution of the orbits of the test particle in the phase space, we find that the orbits of thetest particle randomly oscillate without any periods, even sensitively depending on the initial conditions and parameters.chaotic motion of the test particle in the field with magnetic dipoles becomes even obvious as the value of the magneticdipoles increases.     

Scaling and decay in periodically driven scattering systems

We investigate irregular scattering in a periodically driven Hamiltonian system of one degree of freedom. The potential is asymptotically attracting, so there exist parabolically escaping scattering orbits, i.e. orbits with asymptotic energy E(out)=0. The scattering functions (i.e. the asymptotic out-variables as functions of an asymptotic in-variable) show a characteristic algebraic scaling in the vicinity of these orbits. This behavior is explained by asymptotic properties of the interaction. As a consequence, the number N(Deltat) of temporarily bound particles decays algebraically with the delay time Deltat, although no KAM scenario can be found in phase space. On the other hand, we find the number N(n) of temporarily bound particles to decay exponentially with the number n of zeros of x(t).     

Chaotic capture of vortices by a moving body. II. Bound pair model

Previously, we have presented a simple model for the interaction of a fluid vortex structure with a moving bluff body, and demonstrated the existence of a trapping mechanism related to chaotic scattering. This single point vortex model required explicit perturbation to generate chaos and the subsequent complex dynamics. Here, we present a model which attempts to introduce internal degrees-of-freedom in the vortex structure in the simplest manner, by replacing the single vortex with a like-signed pair. We show that this model exhibits chaotic trapping without the need of explicit perturbation, however, the region of parameter space for which trapping occurs is exceedingly small due to the spatially dependent form of the perturbation. We claim that this result explains some the behavior observed in Navier-Stokes simulations of the same vortex-body system, where we find close correspondence between the dynamics of an extended vorticity distribution and the single vortex model. Finally, we generalize the model to unequal strength vortex pairs, and find more complex behavior which includes "partial" capture of the weaker vortex by the body. (c) 1994 American Institute of Physics.     

Mechanisms for the development of unstable dimension variability and the breakdown of shadowing in coupled chaotic systems

A chaotic attractor containing unstable periodic orbits with different numbers of unstable directions is said to exhibit unstable dimension variability (UDV). We present general mechanisms for the progressive development of UDV in uni- and bidirectionally coupled systems of chaotic elements. Our results are applicable to systems of dissimilar elements without invariant manifolds. We also quantify the severity of UDV to identify coupling ranges where the shadowability and modelability of such systems are significantly compromised.     

Selective sensitivity of open chaotic flows on inertial tracer advection: catching particles with a stick

We investigate the effects of finite size and inertia of a small spherical particle immersed in an open unsteady flow which, for ideal tracers, generates transiently chaotic trajectories. The inertia effects may strongly modify the chaotic motion to the point that attractors may appear in the configuration space. These studies are performed in a model of the two-dimensional flow past a cylindrical obstacle. The relevance to modeling efforts of biological pathogen transport in large-scale flows is discussed. Since the tracer dynamics is sensitive to the particle inertia and size, simple geometric setups in such flows could be used as a particle mixture segregator separating and trapping particles.