COMPUTATIONAL CHAOS IN THE NONLINEAR SCHRODINGER-EQUATION WITHOUT HOMOCLINIC CROSSINGS

A Hamiltonian difference scheme associated with the integrable nonline ar Schrodinger equation with periodic boundary values is used as a pro totype to demonstrate that perturbations due to truncation effects can result in a novel type of chaotic evolution. The chaotic solution is characterized by random bifurcations across standing wave states into left and right going traveling waves. In this class of problems where the solutions are not subject to even constraints, the traditional mec hanism of crossings of the unperturbed homoclinic orbits/manifolds is not observed.