An Analytical Study of Hamiltonian Chaos in Nonsteady Finite-Amplitude Electroconvection

The extent of chaos and the suppressory role of Coulomb repulsion in the chaotic dynamics associated with nonsteady finite-amplitude electroconvection is revisited in the context of dynamical systems. Specifically, it is theoretically demonstrated that the threshold value of the charge density taming the heteroclinic chaos associated with laminar chaotic mixing depends on the sinusoidal perturbation’s frequency of the fluid velocity field, which is at variance with the fixed threshold value previously reported [Chacón et al., 1994]. Additionally, the consideration of time-periodic multiharmonic perturbations reveals the great complexity of the chaotic mixing scenario.