Chaotic orbits in thermal-equilibrium beams: Existence and dynamical implications

Phase mixing of chaotic orbits exponentially distributes these orbits through their accessible phase space. This phenomenon, commonly called “chaotic mixing,” stands in marked contrast to phase mixing of regular orbits which proceeds as a power law in time. It is operationally irreversible; hence, its associated e-folding time scale sets a condition on any process envisioned for emittance compensation. A key question is whether beams can support chaotic orbits, and if so, under what conditions? We numerically investigate the parameter space of three-dimensional thermal-equilibrium beams with space charge, confined by linear external focusing forces, to determine whether the associated potentials support chaotic orbits. We find that a large subset of the parameter space does support chaos and, in turn, chaotic mixing. Details and implications are enumerated.