Gravity Waves, Chaos, and Spinning Compact Binaries

Spinning compact binaries are shown to be chaotic in the Post-Newtonian expansion of the two body system. Chaos by definition is the extreme sensitivity to initial conditions and a consequent inability to predict the outcome of the evolution. As a result, the spinning pair will have unpredictable gravitational waveforms during coalescence. This poses a challenge to future gravity wave observatories which rely on a match between the data and a theoretical template.Comment: Final version published in PR

Spectral statistics of random geometric graphs

We use random matrix theory to study the spectrum of random geometric graphs, a fundamental model of spatial networks. Considering ensembles of random geometric graphs we look at short range correlations in the level spacings of the spectrum via the nearest neighbour and next nearest neighbour spacing distribution and long range correlations via the spectral rigidity Delta_3 statistic. These correlations in the level spacings give information about localisation of eigenvectors, level of community structure and the level of randomness within the networks. We find a parameter dependent transition between Poisson and Gaussian orthogonal ensemble statistics. That is the spectral statistics of spatial random geometric graphs fits the universality of random matrix theory found in other models such as Erdos-Renyi, Barabasi-Albert and Watts-Strogatz random graph.Comment: 19 pages, 6 figures. Substantially updated from previous versio

Stability ordering of cycle expansions

We propose that cycle expansions be ordered with respect to stability rather than orbit length for many chaotic systems, particularly those exhibiting crises. This is illustrated with the strong field Lorentz gas, where we obtain significant improvements over traditional approaches.Comment: Revtex, 5 incorporated figures, total size 200

Fractal Scales in a Schwarzschild Atmosphere

Recently, Glass and Krisch have extended the Vaidya radiating metric to include both a radiation fluid and a string fluid [1999 Class. Quantum Grav. vol 16, 1175]. Mass diffusion in the extended Schwarzschild atmosphere was studied. The continuous solutions of classical diffusive transport are believed to describe the envelope of underlying fractal behavior. In this work we examine the classical picture at scales on which fractal behavior might be evident.Comment: to appear in Class. Quantum Gra

Stochastic stabilization of cosmological photons

The stability of photon trajectories in models of the Universe that have constant spatial curvature is determined by the sign of the curvature: they are exponentially unstable if the curvature is negative and stable if it is positive or zero. We demonstrate that random fluctuations in the curvature provide an additional stabilizing mechanism. This mechanism is analogous to the one responsible for stabilizing the stochastic Kapitsa pendulum. When the mean curvature is negative it is capable of stabilizing the photon trajectories; when the mean curvature is zero or positive it determines the characteristic frequency with which neighbouring trajectories oscillate about each other. In constant negative curvature models of the Universe that have compact topology, exponential instability implies chaos (e.g. mixing) in the photon dynamics. We discuss some consequences of stochastic stabilization in this context.Comment: 4 pages, 3 postscript figures in color which are also appropriate for black and white printers; v2 emphasizes relevance to flat as well as negatively curved cosmologies; to appear in J. Phys.

Chaos in Quantum Cosmology

Much of the foundational work on quantum cosmology employs a simple minisuperspace model describing a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universe containing a massive scalar field. We show that the classical limit of this model exhibits deterministic chaos and explore some of the consequences for the quantum theory. In particular, the breakdown of the WKB approximation calls into question many of the standard results in quantum cosmology.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, RevTex two column style. Minor revisions and clarifications to reflect version published in Phys. Rev. Let

Microscopic chaos from Brownian motion in a one-dimensional anharmonic oscillator chain

The problem of relating microscopic chaos to macroscopic behavior in a many-degrees-of-freedom system is numerically investigated by analyzing statistical properties associated to the position and momentum of a heavy impurity embedded in a chain of nearest-neighbor anharmonic Fermi-Pasta-Ulam oscillators. For this model we have found that the behavior of the relaxation time of the momentum autocorrelation function of the impurity is different depending on the dynamical regime (either regular or chaotic) of the lattice.Comment: 5 pages REVTeX, 6 eps figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Chaos, Fractals and Inflation

In order to draw out the essential behavior of the universe, investigations of early universe cosmology often reduce the complex system to a simple integrable system. Inflationary models are of this kind as they focus on simple scalar field scenarios with correspondingly simple dynamics. However, we can be assured that the universe is crowded with many interacting fields of which the inflaton is but one. As we describe, the nonlinear nature of these interactions can result in a complex, chaotic evolution of the universe. Here we illustrate how chaotic effects can arise even in basic models such as homogeneous, isotropic universes with two scalar fields. We find inflating universes which act as attractors in the space of initial conditions. These universes display chaotic transients in their early evolution. The chaotic character is reflected by the fractal border to the basin of attraction. The broader implications are likely to be felt in the process of reheating as well as in the nature of the cosmic background radiation.Comment: 16 pages, RevTeX. See published version for fig

Open Mushrooms: Stickiness revisited

We investigate mushroom billiards, a class of dynamical systems with sharply divided phase space. For typical values of the control parameter of the system $\rho$, an infinite number of marginally unstable periodic orbits (MUPOs) exist making the system sticky in the sense that unstable orbits approach regular regions in phase space and thus exhibit regular behaviour for long periods of time. The problem of finding these MUPOs is expressed as the well known problem of finding optimal rational approximations of a real number, subject to some system-specific constraints. By introducing a generalized mushroom and using properties of continued fractions, we describe a zero measure set of control parameter values $\rho\in(0,1)$ for which all MUPOs are destroyed and therefore the system is less sticky. The open mushroom (billiard with a hole) is then considered in order to quantify the stickiness exhibited and exact leading order expressions for the algebraic decay of the survival probability function $P(t)$ are calculated for mushrooms with triangular and rectangular stems.Comment: 21 pages, 11 figures. Includes discussion of a three-dimensional mushroo

Primordial magnetic fields from inflation?

The hot plasma above the electroweak scale contains (hyper) charged scalar particles which are coupled to Abelian gauge fields. Scalars may interact with gravity in a non-conformally invariant way and thus their fluctuations can be amplified during inflation. These fluctuations lead to creation of electric currents and produce inhomogeneous distribution of charge density, resulting in the generation of cosmological magnetic fields. We address the question whether these fields can be coherent at large scales so that they may seed the galactic magnetic fields. Depending upon the mass of the charged scalar and upon various cosmological (critical fraction of energy density in matter, Hubble constant) and particle physics parameters we found that the magnetic fields generated in this way are much larger than vacuum fluctuations. However, their amplitude on cosmological distances is found to be too small for seeding the galactic magnetic fields.Comment: 32 pages in RevTex styl