Self-Driven Fractional Rotational Diffusion of the Harmonic Three-Mass System

Area of Science:

• Physics
• Nonlinear Dynamics
• Statistical Mechanics

Background:

• Isolated nonrigid systems can change orientation due to internal dynamics and angular momentum conservation laws.
• Chaotic internal dynamics in such systems can lead to macroscopic rotational behavior.
• Understanding these dynamics is crucial for modeling complex physical phenomena.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between chaotic internal dynamics and macroscopic rotational behavior in isolated nonrigid systems.
• To model rotational random walk and Lévy walk phenomena using a simplified physical system.
• To analyze the statistical properties of orientation reversals and their impact on rotational diffusion.

Main Methods:

• Studied the classical harmonic three-mass system in the strongly nonlinear regime.
• Analyzed system dynamics at low, intermediate, and high energies.
• Investigated zero angular momentum rotation and chaotic dynamics.
• Examined orientation reversal statistics and rotational diffusion.

Main Results:

• At low energies, the system exhibits regular rotation with constant angular momentum.
• At high energies, a rotational random walk is observed.
• Intermediate energies show ballistic rotation bouts interrupted by orientation reversals, modeling Lévy walks.
• Orientation reversal statistics demonstrate fractional rotational diffusion.

Conclusions:

• Chaotic internal dynamics can induce macroscopic rotational random walk in isolated nonrigid systems.
• The harmonic three-mass system serves as a simple physical model for Lévy walks and fractional rotational diffusion.
• The study bridges the gap between microscopic chaotic dynamics and macroscopic emergent behavior.