The effect of a weak source of noise on the chaotic scattering is relevant to situations of physical interest. We investigate how a weak source of additive uncorrelated Gaussian noise affects both the dynamics and the topology of a paradigmatic chaotic scattering problem as the one taking place in the open nonhyperbolic regime of the Hénon-Heiles Hamiltonian system. We have found long transients for the time escape distributions for critical values of the noise intensity for which the particles escape slower as compared with the noiseless case. An analysis of the survival probability of the scattering function versus the Gaussian noise intensity shows a smooth curve with one local maximum and with one local minimum which are related to those long transients and with the basin structure in phase space. On the other hand, the computation of the exit basins in phase space shows a quadratic curve for which the basin boundaries lose their fractal-like structure as noise turned on.

• Received 30 April 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.88.032914