Chaos Theory

“Hamiltonian Chaos Beyond the KAM Theory: Dedicated to George M. Zaslavsky (1935—2008)” covers the recent developments and advances in the theory and application of Hamiltonian chaos in nonlinear Hamiltonian systems. The book is dedicated to Dr. George Zaslavsky, who was one of three founders of the theory of Hamiltonian chaos. Each chapter in this book was written by well-established scientists in the field of nonlinear Hamiltonian systems. The development presented in this book goes beyond the KAM theory, and the onset and disappearance of chaos in the stochastic and resonant layers of nonlinear Hamiltonian systems are predicted analytically, instead of qualitatively. The book is intended for researchers in the field of nonlinear dynamics in mathematics, physics and engineering. Dr. Albert C.J. Luo is a Professor at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, USA. Dr. Valentin Afraimovich is a Professor at San Luis Potosi University, Mexico.

Based on chaos theory two very important points are clear: (I) random­ looking aperiodic behavior may be the product of determinism, and (2) nonlinear problems should be treated as nonlinear problems and not as simplified linear problems. The theoretical aspects ofchaos have been presented in great detail in several excellent books published in the last five years or so. However, while the problems associated with applications of the theory-such as dimension and Lyapunov exponentsestimation, chaosand nonlinear pre­ diction, and noise reduction-have been discussed in workshops and ar­ ticles, they have not been presented in book form. This book has been prepared to fill this gap between theory and ap­ plicationsand to assist studentsand scientists wishingto apply ideas from the theory ofnonlinear dynamical systems to problems from their areas of interest.

Chaos and nonlinear dynamics initially developed as a new emergent field with its foundation in physics and applied mathematics. The highly generic, interdisciplinary quality of the insights gained in the last few decades has spawned myriad applications in almost all branches of science and technology—and even well beyond. Wherever quantitative modeling and analysis of complex, nonlinear phenomena is required, chaos theory and its methods can play a key role.

This volume volume contains papers on the subject of chaos in the physical sciences. This volume looks at such problems as chaos in nonlinear systems, in dynamical systems, quantum chaos, biological applications, and a few new emerging areas as well.

With contributions from a number of pioneering researchers in the field, this collection is aimed not only at researchers and scientists in nonlinear dynamics but also at a broader audience interested in understanding and exploring how modern chaos theory has developed since the days of Poincaré.

This book examines the issue of chaos in nonlinear and dynamical systems, quantum mechanics, biology, and economics.