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M. Valluri (Rutgers)
Several previous studies have concluded that chaos induced by the presence of a central black hole or cusp will be decreased by figure rotation. We show on the contrary that figure rotation substantially increases the fraction of stochastic orbits in triaxial galaxies. Further, this increase is most dramatic in systems with shallow cusps, showing that it is not a consequence of scattering by a central density cusp or black hole. The increase in the fraction of stochastic orbits with figure rotation is a direct consequence of the destabilization of the resonant tori that structure the phase space of triaxial systems (Merritt & Valluri, this meeting). The presence of stochastic orbits in a triaxial galaxy is known to induce an evolution from triaxial to more axisymmetric shapes. When a massive black hole is present, the evolution timescales can be as short as a few crossing times and are further reduced by figure rotation.
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