Does macroscopic disorder imply microscopic chaos?

Abstract

We argue that Gaspard and coworkers [Nature 394, 865 (1998)] do not give evidence for microscopic chaos in the sense in which they use the term. The effectively infinite number of molecules in a fluid can generate the same macroscopic disorder without any intrinsic instability. But we argue also that the notion of chaos in infinitely extended systems needs clarification: In a wider sense, even some systems without local instabilities can be considered chaotic.