DYNAMICAL CHAOS IN SU(2) CIRCLE-TIMES-U (1) THEORY

We study the dynamics of the classical homogeneous SU(2) x U(1) gauge theory in the spontaneously broken phase. A transition from regular to chaotic dynamics is shown to occur for energy densities epsilon > 0.3 m(w)2/G(F) almost-equal-to 2 x 10(10) GeV/fm3. The regular regime is c haracterized by a sharp frequency spectrum for the Yang-Mills fields. The frequency spectrum in the chaotic regime is continuous and the sha rp frequency lines of the regular regime are dispersed. In the early u niverse or at high energy densities in a Yang-Mills plasma this transi tion may have observable effects that can be studied by analyzing the frequency spectrum and the time correlation functions. In the chaotic regime these time correlation functions decay considerably faster than in the regular regime.