Towards a computer-assisted proof for chaos in a forced damped pendulum equation

We report on the first steps made towards the computational proof of the chaotic behaviour of the forced damped pendulum. Although, chaos for this pendulum was being conjectured for long, and it has been plausible on the basis of numerical simulations, there is no rigorous proof for it. In the present paper we provide computational details on a fitting model and on a verified method of solution. We also give guaranteed reliability solutions showing some trajectory properties necessary for complicate chaotic behaviour. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.