Global invariant manifolds in the transition to preturbulence in the Lorenz system (Q652423): Difference between revisions

The authors study the first homoclinic bifurcation of the Lorenz system, where two primary periodic orbits of saddle type bifurcate from a symmetric pair of homoclinic loops. The transition through this homoclinic explosion point results in a dramatic change of the topological structure of the basins of the two attracting equilibria. A chaotic saddle is created in a tubular neighborhood of the two homoclinic loops and this invariant hyperbolic set gives rise to preturbulence. By means of numerical methods, the authors show how the two-dimensional stable manifolds of the origin and of the primary periodic orbits intersect a suitable sphere in the phase space. The computations reveal the bifurcating Cantor structure of invariant manifolds and basins, which explain where in phase space long transients -- the characterizing feature of preturbulence -- can be found.