Chaos appears in various problems of Relativity and Cosmology. Here we disc
uss (a) the Mixmaster Universe model, and (b) the motions around two fixed
black holes. (a) The Mixmaster equations have a general solution (i.e. a so
lution depending on 6 arbitrary constants) of Painleve type, but there is a
second general solution which is not Painleve. Thus the system does not pa
ss the Painleve test, and cannot be integrable. The Mixmaster model is not
ergodic and does not have any periodic orbits. This is due to the fact that
the sum of the three variables of the system (alpha + beta + gamma) has on
ly one maximum for tau = tau(m) and decreases continuously for larger and f
or smaller tau. The various Kasner periods increase exponentially for large
tau. Thus the Lyapunov Characteristic Number (LCN) is zero. The "finite ti
me LCN" is positive for finite tau and tends to zero when tau --> infinity.
Chaos is introduced mainly near the maximum of (alpha + beta + gamma). No
appreciable chaos is introduced at the successive Kasner periods, or eras.
We conclude that in the Belinskii-Khalatnikov time, tau, the Mixmaster mode
l has the basic characteristics of a chaotic scattering problem. (b) In the
case of two fixed black holes M-1 and M-2 the orbits of photons are separa
ted into three types: orbits falling into M-1 (type I), or M-2 (type II), o
r escaping to infinity (type III). Chaos appears because between any two or
bits of different types there are orbits of the third type. This is a typic
al chaotic scattering problem. The various types of orbits are separated by
orbits asymptotic to 3 simple unstable orbits. In the case of particles of
nonzero rest mass we have intervals where some periodic orbits are stable.
Near such orbits we have order. The transition from order to chaos is made
through an infinite sequence of period doubling bifurcations. The bifurcat
ion ratio is the same as in classical conservative systems.