Universal Second-Order Phase Transition from Integrability to Chaos
Abstract
We report a dynamical phase transition from integrability to non-integrability in a simple oval-like billiard with boundary . For , the phase space is {\it foliated} by invariant curves corresponding to periodic or quasiperiodic motion, whereas for small a thin chaotic layer separates rotational and librational trajectories. As increases, this layer grows according to a well-defined scaling law whose chaotic dispersion follows , where the exponent coincides with those of the Fermi-Ulam model, periodically corrugated waveguides, and a family of discrete mappings, revealing a universal mechanism for the onset of chaos in weakly perturbed integrable systems. The deviation of the reflection angle in the billiard, , acts as an order parameter: it vanishes continuously as , signalling an ordered (integrable) phase, while its susceptibility diverges, indicating a second-order phase transition. A symmetry breaking and an analytically solvable diffusion process complete the near-critical phenomenology. These results establish a unified framework for the emergence of chaos from integrability.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2602.17802,
title = {Universal Second-Order Phase Transition from Integrability to Chaos},
author = {Edson D. Leonel and Mayla A. M. de Almeida and Juan Pedro Tarigo and Arturo C. Marti and Diego F. M. Oliveira},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2602.17802},
year = {2026}
}