Computing global orbits of the forced spherical pendulum (Q1597260)

One of the two main results of this paper is that global orbits of the -- forced or unforced -- spherical pendulum can be computed accurately by integrating in the ambient six-dimensional phase space, and constraining orbits to lie on the four-dimensional submanifold which defines the spherical pendulum. By using the Shake-Rattle algorithm, the tangent bundle is preserved to the machine accuracy, and therefore numerical errors are restricted to location on the manifold. The second main result is that Lyapunov exponents associated with global orbits can be calculated using a variant of the Shake-Rattle algorithm for linearized constrained systems. Only the undamped system is considered, but it is straightforward to include damping in the numerical framework. The orbits of the forced system show clear evidence of chaotic behavior. The numerical framework presented in this paper provides a robust tool for investigation of quadrature properties of symmetric chaos in this system.