Classical chaos in nonseparable wave propagation problems

Numerical calculations show that acoustic ray paths in a weakly range‐dependent deterministic ocean model exhibit chaotic behavior, that is, have an exponentially sensitive dependence on initial conditions. Since the ray equations define a nonautonomous Hamiltonian system with one degree of freedom, these results may be understood in terms of recent advances in classical chaos. The Hamiltonian structure of ray equations in general suggests that chaotic ray trajectories will be present in all types of linear wave motion in geophysics when variables do not separate, as in laterally inhomogeneous media.