Extended chaos and disappearance of KAM trajectories (Q1072176)

In two dimensions an area preserving map can exhibit complicated behavior. One interesting aspect of the structure exhibited by the dynamical behavior is the existence of KAM curves, i.e., invariant curves containing dense orbits. These curves serve as boundaries for invariant regions which may contain chaotic behavior, i.e., regions of positive area containing dense orbits. As certain parameters are varied the KAM curves may disappear. They usually became Cantor sets of points, and the chaotic regions can diffuse ''through'' the KAM curve. This corresponds to a sudden change in size of the chaotic region. In the present paper an attempt is made to understand this sudden growth. A definition for the escape rate is proposed and some analytic and numerical results are given to describe the behavior.