In this paper, an analysis of the phase space structure of the isomerizing molecular system LiNC/LiCN, using Poincaré surfaces of section and frequency analysis, is presented. The scaling structure of the frequency map in the chaotic region next to the regular part corresponding to the stable linear isomer LiNC is studied using multifractal analysis. This approach is a way to characterize quantitatively the complexity in the mechanism of the tori destruction in a molecular Hamiltonian system that exhibits soft chaos as the vibrational energy of the system increases.

• Received 2 August 2001

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.65.016213