title: Observation of chaotic dynamics in dilute sheared aqueous solutions of CTAT.
abstract: The nonlinear flow behavior of a viscoelastic gel formed due to entangled, cylindrical micelles in aqueous solutions of the surfactant cetyl trimethylammonium tosilate (CTAT) has been studied. On subjecting the system to a step shear rate lying above a certain value, the shear and normal stresses show interesting time dependent behavior. The analysis of the measured time series shows the existence of a finite correlation dimension and a positive Lyapunov exponent, unambiguously implying that the dynamics can be described by that of a dynamical system with a strange attractor whose dimension increases with the increase in shear rate.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012, India.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bandyopadhyay
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Basappa
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Sood