ON THE DETERMINATION OF CAUSTICS

Abstract

This paper presents a numerical method which locates caustics of classical trajectories on-the-fly. The method is conceptually simple and is applicable to a system of arbitrary dimensions. The efficiency of the method is demonstrated by determining caustics of trajectories in the 2-D Henon–Heiles potential and of trajectories used to simulate a triatomic reaction process for J (total angular momentum) = 0.