Chaos in two-dimensional Kepler problem with spin-orbit coupling

TL;DR

This paper investigates how strong spin-orbit coupling induces chaos in a two-dimensional Kepler system, revealing a transition driven by initial spin conditions and the reduction of conserved quantities.

Contribution

It demonstrates that spin-orbit coupling causes chaos in the classical Kepler problem by reducing integrals of motion, with analytical and numerical evidence of initial condition sensitivity.

Findings

Chaos appears at strong spin-orbit coupling levels.

System exhibits reentrant order-from-disorder transitions.

Chaos depends critically on initial spin orientation.

Abstract

We consider classical two-dimensional Kepler system with spin-orbit coupling and show that at a sufficiently strong coupling it demonstrates a chaotic behavior. The chaos emerges since the spin-orbit coupling reduces the number of the integrals of motion as compared to the number of the degrees of freedom. This reduction is manifested in the equations of motion as the emergence of the anomalous velocity determined by the spin orientation. By using analytical and numerical arguments, we demonstrate that the chaotic behavior, being driven by this anomalous term, is related to the system energy dependence on the initial spin orientation. We observe the critical dependence of the dynamics on the initial conditions, where system can enter and exit a stability domain by very small changes in the initial spin orientation. Thus, this system can demonstrate a reentrant order-from-disorder transition driven by very small variations in the initial conditions.