On the onset of diffusion in the kicked Harper model (Q2662976)

The focus of this paper is the so-called kicked Harper model, a two-parameter family of area-preserving diffeomorphisms on the torus. The family \(f_{\alpha, \beta}: \mathbb {T}^2 \rightarrow \mathbb {T}^2\) is induced by the mappings \(F_{\alpha, \beta}: \mathbb{R}^2 \rightarrow \mathbb{R}^2\) defined by \((x, y) \mapsto (x + \alpha \sin(2\pi (y + \beta \sin(2\pi x))), y + \beta \sin(2 \pi x))\) with real parameters \(\alpha\) and \(\beta\). The kicked Harper family is the composition of vertical and horizontal skew shifts: \(V_\beta(x,y) = (x, y + \beta \sin(2\pi x))\) and \(H_\alpha (x,y) = (x + \alpha \sin(2 \pi y), y)\) that induce maps \(\nu_\beta\) and \(h_\alpha\) on \(\mathbb{T}^2\). Then \(f_{\alpha, \beta} = h_\alpha \circ \nu_\beta\) and \(F_{\alpha, \beta} = H_\alpha \circ V_\beta\). The diffeomorphism \(F_{\alpha, \beta}\) has been associated with several applications in physics including the motion of magnetic field lines and wave-particle interactions in quantum mechanics. It also provides an example of an area-preserving diffeomorphism of the torus that does not satisfy a global twist condition in the sense of KAM theory. The authors' primary goal is to study the model using ideas of rotation theory. The primary topological invariant in this theory is the rotation set \(\rho\) of a torus homeomorphism \(f : \mathbb{T}^2 \rightarrow \mathbb{T}^2\) that is homotopic to the identity with a lift \(F: \mathbb{R}^2 \rightarrow \mathbb{R}^2\). The rotation set had been introduced in [\textit{M. Misiurewicz} and \textit{K. Ziemian}, J. Lond. Math. Soc., II. Ser. 40, No. 3, 490--506 (1990; Zbl 0663.58022)]. The authors show continuity of the map \((\alpha, \beta) \mapsto \rho( F_{\alpha, \beta})\) The authors associate the onset of diffusion and global chaos with rotation sets having non-empty interior. They study two parameter regions, one with rotation set having empty interior, and the other with non-empty interior.