Lyapunov Bounds for Lattice Gauge Dynamics

We study the classical Hamiltonian dynamics of the Kogut–Susskind model for lattice gauge theories on a finite box in a d-dimensional integer lattice. The coupling constant for the plaquette interaction is denoted λ². When the gauge group is a real or a complex subgroup of a unitary matrix group U(N), N≥ 1, we show that the maximal Lyapunov exponent is bounded by , uniformly in the size of the lattice, the energy of the system as well as the order, N, of the gauge group. Received: 20 December 1997 / Accepted: 21 July 1998