Chaotic signature in the motion of coupled carbon nanotube oscillators

The motion of coupled oscillators based on multiwalled carbon nanotubes is studied using rigid-body dynamics simulations. The results show the existence of chaotic and regular behaviours for a given total energy, indicating the manifestation of chaos in nanoscaled mechanical systems based on carbon nanotube oscillators. Different regular motions are observed for different total energies, and they can be obtained by appropriately choosing the initial conditions. This possibility can allow the construction of multi-functional nano-devices based on multiwalled carbon nanotube oscillators.