Chaos in cosmological Hamiltonians

Abstract

This paper summarises a numerical investigation which aimed to identify and characterise regular and chaotic behaviour in time-dependent Hamiltonians H(r,p,t) = p^2/2 + U(r,t), with U=R(t)V(r) or U=V[R(t)r], where V(r) is a polynomial in x, y, and/or z, and R = const * t^p is a time-dependent scale factor. When p is not too negative, one can distinguish between regular and chaotic behaviour by determining whether an orbit segment exhibits a sensitive dependence on initial conditions. However, chaotic segments in these potentials differ from chaotic segments in time-independent potentials in that a small initial perturbation will usually exhibit a sub- or super-exponential growth in time. Although not periodic, regular segments typically exhibit simpler shapes, topologies, and Fourier spectra than do chaotic segments. This distinction between regular and chaotic behaviour is not absolute since a single orbit segment can seemingly change from regular to chaotic and visa versa. All these observed phenomena can be understood in terms of a simple theoretical model.