Ergodic properties of microcanonical observables

The problem of the existence of a strong stochasticity threshold in the FPU-ß model is reconsidered, using suitable microcanonical observables of thermodynamic nature, like the temperature and the specific heat. Explicit expressions for these observables are obtained by exploiting rigorous methods of differential geometry. Measurements of the corresponding temporal autocorrelation functions locate the threshold at a finite value of the energy density, which is independent of the number of degrees of freedom.