We show that the information entropy ${\mathit{S}}_{\mathit{i}}$, where i is the number of steps, is a good parameter to characterize chaoticity in branching processes. The quantity ${\mathit{S}}_{\mathit{i}}$-ln〈n${\mathrm{〉}}_{\mathit{i}}$, where 〈n${\mathrm{〉}}_{\mathit{i}}$ is the average number of particles produced at step i, approaches -∞ in Abelian processes and a finite constant in non-Abelian ones. © 1996 The American Physical Society.

• Received 20 June 1995

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.53.5283