Date of Award

2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Natural Sciences

First Advisor

Kottke, Christopher

Second Advisor

Yildirim, Necmettin

Area of Concentration

Mathematics

Abstract

Despite its deterministic nature, chaos arises in many systems, including double pendulums. In this paper, we will provide the background information on differential equations along with foundational tools needed to detect chaos, such as the local stability analysis of steady states, time series, phase planes, and Lyapunov exponents. Armed with these tools, we will run numerical simulations, exploring the angular displacements for both single and double pendulums, and show why single pendulums are not considered chaotic. For double pendulums, we will estimate Lyapunov exponents for a given energy level to determine when chaos occurs.

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