The role of chaotic resonances in the Solar System

Partial barriers to chaotic transport in 4D symplectic maps

Chaotic transport in Hamiltonian systems is often restricted due to the presence of partial barriers, leading to a limited flux between different regions in phase space. Typically, the most restrictive partial barrier in a 2D symplectic map is based on a cantorus, the Cantor set remnants of a broken 1D torus. For a 4D symplectic map, we establish a partial barrier based on what we call a cantorus-NHIM-a normally hyperbolic invariant manifold with the structure of a cantorus. Using a flux formula, we determine the global 4D flux across a partial barrier based on a cantorus-NHIM by approximating it with high-order periodic NHIMs. In addition, we introduce a local 3D flux depending on the position along a resonance channel, which is relevant in the presence of slow Arnold diffusion. Moreover, for a partial barrier composed of stable and unstable manifolds of a NHIM, we utilize periodic NHIMs to quantify the corresponding flux.

Thirty years of turnstiles and transport

To characterize transport in a deterministic dynamical system is to compute exit time distributions from regions or transition time distributions between regions in phase space. This paper surveys the considerable progress on this problem over the past thirty years. Primary measures of transport for volume-preserving maps include the exiting and incoming fluxes to a region. For area-preserving maps, transport is impeded by curves formed from invariant manifolds that form partial barriers, e.g., stable and unstable manifolds bounding a resonance zone or cantori, the remnants of destroyed invariant tori. When the map is exact volume preserving, a Lagrangian differential form can be used to reduce the computation of fluxes to finding a difference between the actions of certain key orbits, such as homoclinic orbits to a saddle or to a cantorus. Given a partition of phase space into regions bounded by partial barriers, a Markov tree model of transport explains key observations, such as the algebraic decay of exit and recurrence distributions.

Orbital resonances around black holes

We compute the length and time scales associated with resonant orbits around Kerr black holes for all orbital and spin parameters. Resonance-induced effects are potentially observable when the Event Horizon Telescope resolves the inner structure of Sgr A*, when space-based gravitational wave detectors record phase shifts in the waveform during the resonant passage of a compact object spiraling into the black hole, or in the frequencies of quasiperiodic oscillations for accreting black holes. The onset of geodesic chaos for non-Kerr spacetimes should occur at the resonance locations quantified here.

Multiple components in narrow planetary rings

The phase-space volume of regions of regular or trapped motion, for bounded or scattering systems with 2 degrees of freedom, respectively, displays universal properties. In particular, drastic reductions in the volume (gaps) are observed at specific values of a control parameter. Using the stability resonances we show that they, and not the mean-motion resonances, account for the position of these gaps. For more degrees of freedom, exciting these resonances divides the regions of trapped motion. For planetary rings, we demonstrate that this mechanism yields rings with multiple components.