CLUSTERS - A LABORATORY FOR STUDYING CHAOS AND ERGODICITY

The dynamics of clusters are revealed, in part, by the extent and natu re of their chaotic and ergodic behavior. Conversely, small clusters o ffer opportunities to study the origins and evolution of chaotic and e rgodic behavior. This investigation uses, as a probe, the time evoluti on of the distribution of sample values of the largest Liapunov expone nt lambda(max). Two kinds of clusters are examined, Ar3 and Ar7. The d istributions g(lambda(max), E) allow inference of dynamical characteri stics such as dwell times in the various potential minima and duration s and frequencies of saddle crossings.