C. P. Dettmann, E. G. D. Cohen
Microscopic chaos and diffusion
(411K, latex, uses revtex, epsfig)

ABSTRACT.  We investigate the connections between microscopic chaos, 
defined on a dynamical level and arising from collisions between molecules, 
and diffusion, characterized by a mean square displacement proportional 
to the time. We use a number of models involving a single particle moving 
in two dimensions and colliding with fixed scatterers. We find that a number 
of microscopically nonchaotic models exhibit diffusion, 
and that the standard methods of 
chaotic time series analysis are ill suited to the problem of distinguishing 
between chaotic and nonchaotic microscopic dynamics. 
However, we show that periodic orbits 
play an important role in our models, in that their different properties 
in chaotic and nonchaotic systems can be used to distinguish such systems 
at the level of time series analysis, and in systems with absorbing boundaries. 
Our findings are relevant to experiments aimed at 
verifying the existence of chaotic microscopic dynamics in diffusive systems.