2002/10/23 by Ch. Skokos, Skokos, Ch., Ch. Antonopoulos +8 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Astro and Planetary Science #Chaotic Dynamics (nlin.CD) #FOS: Physical sciences #Quantum chaos and dynamical systems #Scientific Research and Discoveries #nlin.CD
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.nlin/0210053
9 pages, 5 figures, to appear in "Proceedings of International Conference on Libration Point Orbits and Applications" Aiguablava, Spain, June 2002
arxiv created 2002/10/23 · openalex publication_date 2002/10/23 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We apply the smaller alignment index (SALI) method for distinguishing between ordered and chaotic motion in some simple conservative dynamical systems. In particular we compute the SALI for ordered and chaotic orbits in a 2D and a 4D symplectic map, as well as a two--degree of freedom Hamiltonian system due to Hénon & Heiles. In all cases, the SALI determines correctly the nature of the tested orbit, faster than the method of the computation of the maximal Lyapunov characteristic number. The computation of the SALI for a sample of initial conditions allows us to clearly distinguish between regions in phase space where ordered or chaotic motion occurs.