TY - JOUR T1 - Drift in phase space: a new variational mechanism with optimal diffusion time JF - J. Math. Pures Appl. 82 (2003) 613-664 Y1 - 2003 A1 - Massimiliano Berti A1 - Luca Biasco A1 - Philippe Bolle AB - We consider non-isochronous, nearly integrable, a-priori unstable Hamiltonian systems with a (trigonometric polynomial) $O(\\\\mu)$-perturbation which does not preserve the unperturbed tori. We prove the existence of Arnold diffusion with diffusion time $ T_d = O((1/ \\\\mu) \\\\log (1/ \\\\mu))$ by a variational method which does not require the existence of ``transition chains of tori\\\'\\\' provided by KAM theory. We also prove that our estimate of the diffusion time $T_d $ is optimal as a consequence of a general stability result derived from classical perturbation theory. PB - Elsevier UR - http://hdl.handle.net/1963/3020 U1 - 1313 U2 - Mathematics U3 - Functional Analysis and Applications ER -