Torus maps and the problem of a one-dimensional optical resonator with a quasiperiodically moving wall

Abstract

We study the problem of the asymptotic behavior of the electromagnetic field in an optical resonator one of whose walls is at rest and the other is moving quasiperiodically (with d≥2 incommensurate frequencies). We show that this problem can be reduced to a problem about the behavior of the iterates of a map of the d-dimensional torus that preserves a foliation by irrational straight lines. In particular, the Jacobian of this map has ( d−1) eigenvalues equal to 1. We present rigorous and numerical results about several dynamical features of such maps. We also show how these dynamical features translate into properties for the field in the cavity. In particular, we show that when the torus map satisfies a KAM theorem—which happens for a Cantor set of positive measure of parameters—the energy of the electromagnetic field remains bounded. When the torus map is in a resonant region—which happens in open sets of parameters inside the gaps of the previous Cantor set—the energy grows exponentially.