On the dynamics of a seventh-order generalized Hénon-Heiles potential

Abstract

This letter deals with the derivation and analysis of a seventh-order generalization of the Hénon-Heiles potential. The new potential has axial and reflection symmetries, and finite escape energy with three channels of escape. Based on SALI indicator and exits basins, the dynamic behavior of the seventh-order system is investigated qualitatively in cases of bounded and unbounded movement. Moreover, a quantitative analysis is carried out through the percentage of chaotic orbits and the basin entropy, respectively. After classifying large sets of initial conditions of orbits for several values of the energy constant in both regimes, we observe that when the energy moves away from the critical value, the chaoticity of the system decreases and the basin structure becomes simpler with sharper and well defined bounds. Our results suggest that when the seventh-order contributions of the potential are taken into account, the system becomes less ergodic in comparison with the classical version of the Hénon-Heiles system.

Keywords

• Hénon-Heiles Hamiltonian
• Low-dimensional chaos
• Numerical simulations of chaotic systems