Mel'nikov analysis of phase space transport in a N-degree-of-freedom Hamiltonian system (Q4377201)

The authors study the discrete nonlinear Schrödinger equation \[ i \dot c_j = -\gamma | c_j| ^2 c_j - (W_{j,j+1}c_{j+1} + W_{j,j-1}c_{j-1}),\quad j=1,\ldots,5 . \] The system possesses a Hamiltonian structure. When all couplings except \(W_{45}\) vanish, the system is integrable and a homoclinic solution is explicitly known. The authors then invoke Melnikov type arguments in order to prove persistence and transversality of the homoclinic, when integrability is destroyed by small couplings between other sites \(j\in\{1,\ldots,5\}\). The results are generalized to \(N\) coupled oscillators. The analysis is based on an explicit computation of action-angle variables and a Melnikov analysis following [\textit{S. Wiggins}, Global bifurcations and chaos. Analytic methods. Applied Mathematical Sciences, 73. New York etc.: Springer-Verlag (1988; Zbl 0661.58001)].