BIFURCATION-RECONNECTION SEQUENCES IN NONPENDULAR RESONANCE

In this paper, we show how a whole set of primary resonances can be ge nerated by a definite sequence of bifurcation-reconnections in a nonli near Hamiltonian system. The resonance generation is accomplished from a sequence of tangent inverse bifurcations followed by reconnection p rocesses inside a nonpendular island nonmonotonic in the frequency. Th e stability of the nonpendular island is found to be unaffected by the se processes except for the [2:1] resonances where it presents a windo w of instability In particular, we consider the problem of particle ac celeration in a plasma media and discuss possible implications of the instability window on the acceleration process. (C) 1998 Elsevier Scie nce Ltd. All rights reserved.