Deterministic Chaos in the Dynamics of a Freely Jointed Chain with Three Degrees of Freedom

Abstract

Abstract The dynamics of a short freely jointed chain of three segments is investigated numerically. The chain consists of mass points connected by massless rigid rods, its initial and final points being fixed. Thus the chain represents a holonomically constrained system with three degrees of freedom. It is shown that the motion of the mass points can be chaotic; the occurrence of chaos depends on the initial conditions of the motion, the end-to-end distance of the chain, and the angular momentum about the axis of the stretching direction. Moreover, the chain more likely exhibits regular than chaotic behavior. The numerical results are presented in the form of Poincare surfaces of section, including the use of a slice technique, as well as in the form of power spectra.