Abrupt bifurcations in chaotic scattering: view from the anti-integrable limit (Q2852528)

The principal aim of this paper is to extend the ideas of \textit{D. V. Turaev} and \textit{L. P. Shil'nikov} from [Sov. Math., Dokl. 39, No. 1, 165--168 (1989); translation from Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR 304, No. 4, 811--814 (1989; Zbl 0689.58013)] for the elliptic case and for the circular case to an implicit function theorem proof valid for potentials with more than one local maximum, either circular or elliptic, provided they all have the same height. By structural stability of the resulting subshifts, one can perturb the heights by a small amount proportional to the difference of the energy from their mean and still keep the chaotic sets, but cannot expect their creation to be abrupt as the energy is varied. Also, a rigorous mathematical explanation is established for how chaotic orbits occur via the bifurcation, from the viewpoint of the anti-integrable limit, and to do so far a general range of chaotic scattering problems.