Nonequilibrium properties of the one-dimensional hard-point gas system

We discuss the stability properties of a one-dimensional hard-point gas. We study the decay of the Loschmidt echo which describes the stability of the motion under system perturbations. We show a universal behavior in the echo decay which is intimately connected to the linear dynamical instability of the motion. In particular, in spite of such a weak instability, the asymptotic decay follows a simple exponential law.