  A Riemannian geometrization of dynamics is used to study chaoticity in the
classical Hamiltonian dynamics of a U(1) lattice gauge theory. This approach
allows one to obtain analytical estimates of the largest Lyapunov exponent in
terms of time averages of geometric quantities. These estimates are compared
with the results of numerical simulations, and turn out to be very close to the
values extrapolated for very large lattice sizes even when the geometric
quantities are computed using small lattices. The scaling of the Lyapunov
exponent with the energy density is found to be well described by a quadratic
power law.
