Chaotic behavior in deformable models: the double-well doubly periodic oscillators

The motion of a particle in a one-dimensional perturbed double-well doubly periodic potential is investigated analytically and numerically. A simple physical model for calculating analytically the Melnikov function is proposed. The onset of chaos is studied through an analysis of the phase space, a construction of the bifurcation diagram and a computation of the Lyapunov exponent. The parameter regions of chaotic behavior predicted by the theoretical analysis agree Very well with numerical simulations. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.