Regular and irregular geodesics on spherical harmonic surfaces

TL;DR

This paper investigates the complexity of geodesic curves on surfaces defined by spherical harmonics, proving non-integrability for sectoral harmonic surfaces using advanced mathematical tools.

Contribution

It applies Hamiltonian analysis, Morales-Ramis theorem, and Kovacic algorithm to establish non-integrability of geodesics on sectoral harmonic surfaces.

Findings

Geodesic equations on sectoral harmonic surfaces are non-integrable.

Poincaré sections show breakdown of regular geodesic motion.

The study advances understanding of geodesic behavior on complex surfaces.

Abstract

The behavior of geodesic curves on even seemingly simple surfaces can be surprisingly complex. In this paper we use the Hamiltonian formulation of the geodesic equations to analyze their integrability properties. In particular, we examine the behavior of geodesics on surfaces defined by the spherical harmonics. Using the Morales-Ramis theorem and Kovacic algorithm we are able to prove that the geodesic equations on all surfaces defined by the sectoral harmonics are not integrable, and we use Poincar\'{e} sections to demonstrate the breakdown of regular motion.