Horseshoes for the nearly symmetric heavy top

We prove the existence of horseshoes in the nearly symmetric heavy top. This problem was previously addressed but treated inappropriately due to a singularity of the equations of motion. We introduce an (artificial) inclined plane to remove this singularity and use a Melnikov-type approach to show that there exist transverse homoclinic orbits to periodic orbits on four-dimensional level sets. The price we pay for removing the singularity is that the Hamiltonian system becomes a three-degree-of-freedom system with an additional first integral, unlike the two-degree-of-freedom formulation in the classical treatment. We therefore have to analyze three-dimensional stable and unstable manifolds of periodic orbits in a six-dimensional phase space. A new Melnikov-type technique is developed for this situation. Numerical evidence for the existence of transverse homoclinic orbits on a four-dimensional level set is also given.