Recently, a new algorithm for the computation of covariant Lyapunov vectors and of corresponding local Lyapunov exponents has become available. Here we study the properties of these still unfamiliar quantities for a number of simple models, including
an harmonic oscillator coupled to a thermal gradient with a two-stage thermostat, which leaves the system ergodic and fully time reversible. We explicitly demonstrate how time-reversal invariance affects the perturbation vectors in tangent space and the associated local Lyapunov exponents. We also find that the local covariant exponents vary discontinuously along directions transverse to the phase flow.
The dynamical instability of rough hard-disk fluids in two dimensions is characterized through the Lyapunov spectrum and the Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy, $h_{KS}$, for a wide range of densities and moments of inertia $I$. For small $I$ the spectrum sepa
rates into translation-dominated and rotation-dominated parts. With increasing $I$ the rotation-dominated part is gradually filled in at the expense of translation, until such a separation becomes meaningless. At any density, the rate of phase-space mixing, given by $h_{KS}$, becomes less and less effective the more the rotation affects the dynamics. However, the degree of dynamical chaos, measured by the maximum Lyapunov exponent, is only enhanced by the rotational degrees of freedom for high-density gases, but is diminished for lower densities. Surprisingly, no traces of Lyapunov modes were found in the spectrum for larger moments of inertia. The spatial localization of the perturbation vector associated with the maximum exponent however persists for any $I$.
