Oscillators in resonance (Q1970159)

The authors consider dynamical systems defined by the Hamiltonian of the type \(H = H_0 + H_1\), where \(H_0\) is the principal part, and \(H_1\) is the perturbed part of the Hamiltonian \(H\). The principal part \(H_0\) consists of a finite number of harmonic oscillators and it has the form \(H_0 = \frac{1}{2}\sum_{1 \leq j \leq n}({X_j}^2+ {\omega_j}^2{x_j}^2)\). The perturbed part \(H_1 = H_1(\overline x, \overline X)\) represents weak perturbations, and generally depends on the coordinates \(\overline x =(x_1,\dots{},x_n)\) and of the moments \(\overline X = (X_1,\dots{},X_n)\). Such perturbed elliptic oscillators appear in galactic dynamics and molecular physics. Here the authors demonstrate that the above dynamical systems show a chaos appearing above certain energy threshold. A possibility of chaos exists even at low energies depending on the existence of unstable equilibria and asymptotic homoclinic solutions asymptotic for these equilibria. There are usual difficulties (small and zero divisors) while using a general theory of perturbation. The authors introduce a generalization of Lissajous variables, and consider three examples of resonances of the type \(p_1:p_2:p_3\) (\(p_i\) are distinct integers) from galactic dynamics which show how a first-order normalization of the system leads to a geometric characterization of a reduced phase space.