CHAOTIC MOTION OF TWO MOLECULES IN A BOX

Abstract

Motion of two molecules in a specularly reflecting box is analyzed for two-, three- and higher-dimensional cases. The temporal behavior of this nonlinear system is pursued by the molecular-dynamics method. The distributions of molecular velocities and collisional points are examined for two- and three-dimensional cases. Strange patterns, which depend on the initial condition of the system, have been found in velocity and physical spaces. The reason of this remarkable feature is discussed. The energy distribution function is also examined for a molecule in chaotic motion. The distribution depends on the dimension of the physical space. It can be described by the beta distribution, which holds in general for any dimension.