Phase space analysis of the dynamics on a potential energy surface with an entrance channel and two potential wells

In this paper, we unveil the geometrical template of phase space structures that governs transport in a Hamiltonian system described by a potential energy surface with an entrance/exit channel and two wells separated by an index-1 saddle. For the analysis of the nonlinear dynamics mechanisms, we apply the method of Lagrangian descriptors, a trajectory-based scalar diagnostic tool that is capable of providing a detailed phase space tomography of the interplay between the invariant manifolds of the system. Our analysis reveals that the stable and unstable manifolds of the two families of unstable periodic orbits (UPOs) that exist in the regions of the wells are responsible for controlling access to the potential wells of the trajectories that enter the system through the entrance/exit channel. We demonstrate that the heteroclinic and homoclinic connections that arise in the system between the manifolds of the families of UPOs characterize the branching ratio, a relevant quantity used to measure product distributions in chemical reaction dynamics.