Nonlinear Pendulum — Phase Portrait and Separatrix

The exact pendulum reveals libration, rotation, and the separatrix: the homoclinic orbit at energy E = 2.

Click to launch a trajectory. E = half*omega^2 - cos(theta) + 1: libration (E<2), separatrix (E=2), rotation (E>2). With drive and damping, chaos emerges (positive Lyapunov exponent).