Scaling spectra and return times of dynamical systems

The grand canonical version of the spectrum of singularities formalism is presented, relying naturally upon certain Markov transition graphs. The structure of a graph is simply determined by the close return times of the dynamical system described. Thus, an intimate connection exists between the shape of the singularity curve and a small but interesting set of dynamical properties.     

The dynamics of multidimensional cosmological models in the presence of quantum effects. I. The case FRW ×T D at high temperatures

The dynamical system approach is applied to the study of dynamics of multidimensional cosmological models with topology FRW ×T ^D (D-dimensional torus) in the presence of high-temperature quantum effects. The stability methods developed in the paper of Szydowski (Gen. Rel. Grav.,20, 221, 1988) are used in the analysis of typical states of the metric in the neighborhood of singularities and for large time values. The problems of dynamical dimensional reduction, structure of singularities, isotropization, etc., are discussed in this context.     

Naked singularities in spherically symmetric gravitational collapse: A critique

One of the most important questions in the physics of gravitation phenomena is whether gravitational collapse can lead to the formation of singularities which are not hidden by an event horizon. The Cosmic Censorship Conjecture (CCC) represents the hope that such a drastic event cannot happen in realistic physical situations. However, in the recent past several counter examples to the CCC were demonstrated by several researchers in situations of spherically symmetric gravitational collapse. The disturbing aspect about these counter examples is that they are strong naked singularities—they can crush matter to zero volume and can have a disastrous influence on causal physics. We examine these counter examples for their physical content by working through the dynamical collapse of inhomogeneous dust and argue that these are not physically acceptable counter examples. Our main result is that the singularities when naked are weak and when strong, strongly censored. The strong naked singularities in the counter examples do not arise from dynamical collapse; they result from the intrinsically singular nature of the initial density distributions chosen. The CCC seems to remain robust as far as spherically symmetric collapse is concerned.     

Geometry and topology of escape. I. Epistrophes

We consider a dynamical system given by an area-preserving map on a two-dimensional phase plane and consider a one-dimensional line of initial conditions within this plane. We record the number of iterates it takes a trajectory to escape from a bounded region of the plane as a function along the line of initial conditions, forming an "escape-time plot." For a chaotic system, this plot is in general not a smooth function, but rather has many singularities at which the escape time is infinite; these singularities form a complicated fractal set. In this article we prove the existence of regular repeated sequences, called "epistrophes," which occur at all levels of resolution within the escape-time plot. (The word "epistrophe" comes from rhetoric and means "a repeated ending following a variable beginning.") The epistrophes give the escape-time plot a certain self-similarity, called "epistrophic" self-similarity, which need not imply either strict or asymptotic self-similarity.     

Synchronization of globally coupled phase oscillators: singularities and scaling for general couplings

The onset of collective behavior in a population of globally coupled oscillators with randomly distributed frequencies is studied for phase dynamical models with arbitrary coupling; the effect of a stochastic temporal variation in the frequencies is also included. The Fokker-Planck equation for the coupled Langevin system is reduced to a kinetic equation for the oscillator distribution function. Instabilities of the phase-incoherent state are studied by center manifold reduction to the amplitude dynamics of the unstable modes. Depending on the coupling, the coefficients in the normal form can be singular in the limit of weak instability when the diffusive effect of the noise is neglected. A detailed analysis of these singularities to all orders in the normal form expansion is presented. Physically, the singularities are interpreted as predicting an altered scaling of the entrained component near the onset of synchronization. These predictions are verified by numerically solving the kinetic equation for various couplings and frequency distributions.     

Algebraic Entropy

For any discrete time dynamical system with a rational evolution, we define an entropy, which is a global index of complexity for the evolution map. We analyze its basic properties and its relations to the singularities and the irreversibility of the map. We indicate how it can be exactly calculated. Received: 20 May 1998 / Accepted: 2 February 1999     

A Borel Transform Method for Locating Singularities of Taylor and Fourier Series

Given a Taylor series with a finite radius of convergence, its Borel transform defines an entire function. A theorem of Pólya relates the large distance behavior of the Borel transform in different directions to singularities of the original function. With the help of the new asymptotic interpolation method of van der Hoeven, we show that from the knowledge of a large number of Taylor coefficients we can identify precisely the location of such singularities, as well as their type when they are isolated. There is no risk of getting artefacts with this method, which also gives us access to some of the singularities beyond the convergence disk. The method can also be applied to Fourier series of analytic periodic functions and is here tested on various instances constructed from solutions to the Burgers equation. Large precision on scaling exponents (up to twenty accurate digits) can be achieved.     

Entrainment of a spatially extended nonlinear structure under selective forcing

The response of a nonlinear state to a variable forcing periodic in space is studied in an extended dynamical system consisting of a liquid crystal layer driven to convection. Both the statics and the dynamics of the entrainment and the locking effects are analyzed. The dynamics of the evolution are controlled by topological singularities that allow a diffusion of the phase. The mechanisms involved are related to the role of the defects in systems undergoing spontaneous symmetry breakings.     

The Hilbert-Schmidt method for nucleon-deuteron scattering

The Hilbert-Schmidt technique is used for computing the divergent multiple-scattering series for scattering of nucleons by deuterons at energies above the deuteron breakup. We have found that for each partial amplitude a series ofs-channel resonances diverges because of the logarithmic singularities which reflect thet-channel singularities of the total amplitude. However, the convergence of the Hilbert-Schmidt series may be improved by iterating the Faddeev equations thereby extracting the most strong logarithmic singularities. We show that the series for the amplitudes with the first two iteration subtracted converges rapidly. Our final results are in excelent agreement with exact results obtained by a direct matrix technique.     

Bose-Einstein condensates beyond mean field theory: quantum backreaction as decoherence

We propose an experiment to measure the slow log(N) convergence to mean field theory (MFT) around a dynamical instability. Using a density matrix formalism instead of the standard macroscopic wave function approach, we derive equations of motion which go beyond MFT and provide accurate predictions for the quantum break time. The leading quantum corrections appear as decoherence of the reduced single-particle quantum state.     

Phenomenological dynamics: From Navier–Stokes to chiral granular gases

This paper reviews the derivation of equations for slow dynamical processes in a variety of systems, including rotating rigid rotors, crystalline solids, isotropic and nematic elastomers, gels in an isotropic fluid background, and nematic liquid crystals. It presents a recent derivation of the Leslie-Ericksen equations for the dynamics of nematic liquid crystals that clarifies the nature of the nonhydrodynamic modes in these equations. As a final example of the phenomenological approach to slow dynamical processes, it discusses the dynamics of a driven nonequilibrium system: a two-dimensional gas of chiral ‘rattlebacks’ on a vibrating substrate.     

On the theory of complex potential scattering

We study the effect of the addition of a complex potential λV_sep to an arbitrary Schrödinger operator H = H₀ + V on the singularities of the S matrix, as a function of λ. Here V_sep is a separable interaction, and λ is a complex coupling parameter. The paths of these singularities are determined to a great extent by certain saddle points in the momentum (or energy) plane. We explain certain critical phenomena recently reported in the literature. Associated with these saddles are branch-type singularities in the complex λ plane, which are dynamical in origin. Some examples are discussed in detail.     

A method of numerical solution of cauchy-type singular integral equations with generalized kernels and arbitrary complex singularities

A numerical method is proposed for the approximate solution of a Cauchy-type singular integral equation (or an uncoupled system of such equations) of the first or the second kind and with a generalized kernel, in the sense that, besides the Cauchy singular part, the kernel has also a Fredholm part presenting strong singularities when both its variables tend to the same end-point of the integration interval. In this case any type of real or generally complex singularities in the unknown function of the integral equation may be present near the end-points of the integration interval. The method proposed consists simply in approximating the integrals in the integral equation by using an appropriate numerical integration rule with generally complex abscissas and weights, followed by the application of the resulting approximate equation at properly selected complex collocation points lying outside the integration interval. Although no proof of the convergence of the method seems possible, this method was seen to exhibit good convergence to the results expected in an example treated.     

Scaling laws for invariant measures on hyperbolic and nonhyperbolic atractors

The analysis of dynamical systems in terms of spectra of singularities is extended to higher dimensions and to nonhyperbolic systems. Prominent roles in our approach are played by the generalized partial dimensions of the invariant measure and by the distribution of effective Liapunov exponents. For hyperbolic attractors, the latter determines the metric entropies and provides one constraint on the partial dimensions. For nonhyperbolic attractors, there are important modifications. We discuss them for the examples of the logistic and Hénon map. We show, in particular, that the generalized dimensions have singularities with noncontinuous derivative, similar to first-order phase transitions in statistical mechanics.     

Upper bound for the time derivative of entropy for a stochastic dynamical system with double singularities driven by non-Gaussian noise

A stochastic dynamical system with double singularities driven by non-Gaussian noise is investigated. The Fokker--Plank equation of the system is obtained through the path-integral approach and the method of transformation. Based on the definition of Shannon's information entropy and the Schwartz inequality principle, the upper bound for the time derivative of entropy is calculated both in the absence and in the presence of non-equilibrium constraint. The present calculations can be used to interpret the effects of the system dissipative parameter, the system singularity strength parameter, the noise correlation time and the noise deviation parameter on the upper bound.     

Null Fluid Collapse in Rastall Theory of Gravity

A Vaidya spacetime is considered for gravitational collapse of a type II fluid in the context of the Rastall theory of gravity. For a linear equation of state for the fluid profiles, the conditions under which the dynamical evolution of the collapse can give rise to the formation of a naked singularity are examined. It is shown that depending on the model parameters, strong curvature, naked singularities would arise as exact solutions to the Rastall's field equations. The allowed values of these parameters satisfy certain conditions on the physical reliability, nakedness, and the curvature strength of the singularity. It turns out that Rastall gravity, in comparison to general relativity, provides a wider class of physically reasonable spacetimes that admit both locally and globally naked singularities.     

Averaging Principle for the Higher Order Nonlinear Schrödinger Equation with a Random Fast Oscillation

This work concerns the problem associated with averaging principle for a higher order nonlinear Schrödinger equation perturbed by a oscillating term arising as the solution of a stochastic reaction–diffusion equation evolving with respect to the fast time. This model can be translated into a multiscale stochastic partial differential equations. Stochastic averaging principle is a powerful tool for studying qualitative analysis of stochastic dynamical systems with different time-scales. To be more precise, under suitable conditions, we prove that there is a limit process in which the fast varying process is averaged out and the limit process which takes the form of the higher order nonlinear Schrödinger equation is an average with respect to the stationary measure of the fast varying process. Finally, by using the Khasminskii technique we can obtain the rate of strong convergence for the slow component towards the solution of the averaged equation, and as a consequence, the system can be reduced to a single higher order nonlinear Schrödinger equation with a modified coefficient.     

Fractal dimensions and homeomorphic conjugacies

We investigate the behavior of the spectrum of singularities associated with the invariant measure of some dynamical systems under nonsmooth coordinate changes. When the homeomorphic conjugacy is not Lipschitz continuous, we discuss how its singularities can affect the whole set of generalized fractal dimensions. We give applications to homeomorphisms that conjugate critical circle maps with irrational (golden mean) winding numbers. We present numerical studies corroborating the theoretical predictions.     

How do singularities move in potential flow?

The equations of motion of point vortices embedded in incompressible flow go back to Kirchhoff. They are a paradigm of reduction of an infinite-dimensional dynamical system, namely the incompressible Euler equation, to a finite-dimensional system, and have been called a “classical applied mathematical playground”. The equation of motion for a point vortex can be viewed as the statement that the translational velocity of the point vortex is obtained by removing the leading-order singularity due to the point vortex when computing its velocity. The approaches used to obtain this result are reviewed, along with their history and limitations. A formulation that can be extended to study the motion of higher singularities (e.g. dipoles) is then presented. Extensions to more complex physical situations are also discussed.