Criterion for Stability of a Special Relativistically Covariant Dynamical System

Abstract

We study classically the problem of two relativistic particles with an invariant Duffing-like potential which reduces to the usual Duffing form in the nonrelativistic limit. We use a special relativistic generalization (RGEM) of the geometric method (GEM) developed for the analysis of nonrelativistic Hamiltonian systems to study the local stability of a relativistic Duffing oscillator. Poincar'e plots of the simulated motion are consistent with the RGEM. We found a threshold for the external driving force required for chaotic behavior in the Minkowski spacetime.