title: Convective lyapunov exponents and propagation of correlations
abstract: We conjecture that in one-dimensional spatially extended systems the propagation velocity of correlations coincides with a zero of the convective Lyapunov spectrum. This conjecture is successfully tested in three different contexts: (i) a Hamiltonian system (a Fermi-Pasta-Ulam chain of oscillators); (ii) a general model for spatiotemporal chaos (the complex Ginzburg-Landau equation); (iii) experimental data taken from a CO2 laser with delayed feedback. In the last case, the convective Lyapunov exponent is determined directly from the experimental data.
authors.affiliation: Istituto Nazionale di Ottica Applicata, Largo Enrico Fermi 6, I-50125 Firenze, Italy and Istituto Nazionale di Fisica della Materia, Unita di Firenze, I-50125 Firenze, Italy.
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Giacomelli
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hegger
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Politi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vassalli