We have found chaotic behavior in two classical systems of three particles moving on a one-dimensional ring, where the particles interact via a nonhomogeneous Toda or Coulomb interaction. Chaos appears due to the spatial symmetry breaking induced by the nonhomogeneous interactions. Under certain conditions this system may be considered a classical counterpart of the quantum double-barrier heterostructure, a system for which fingerprints of chaos in its energy spectrum were recently found.

• Received 3 August 1993

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.49.4708