title: Classical dynamics of two-electron atoms near the triple collision.
abstract: The classical dynamics of two electrons in the Coulomb potential of an attractive nucleus is chaotic in large parts of the high-dimensional phase space. Quantum spectra of two-electron atoms, however, exhibit structures which clearly hint at the existence of approximate symmetries in this system. In a recent paper [Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 054302 (2004)], we presented a study of the dynamics near the triple collision as a first step towards uncovering the hidden regularity in the classical dynamics of two electron atoms. The nonregularizable triple collision singularity is a main source of chaos in three body Coulomb problems. Here, we will give a more detailed account of our findings based on a study of the global structure of the stable and unstable manifolds of the triple collision.
authors.affiliation: School of Natural Science, Kumoh National Institute of Technology, Kumi, Kyungbook 730-701, Korea.
authors.forename: Min-Ho
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Gregor
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tanner
authors.forename: Nark Nyul
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Choi