Repelling dynamics near a Bykov cycle (Q376303)

This paper considers the dynamics near a Bykov cycle. In a three-dimensional phase space, such a cycle is a heteroclinic cycle connecting two saddle-foci, one with a one-dimensional unstable manifold and a two-dimensional stable one, while the other has a one-dimensional stable manifold and a two-dimensional unstable one. Such a cycle has codimension two. The eigenvalues associated with the two fixed points are assumed to not satisfy any type of resonance condition. The author shows that while there are chaotic solutions close to the Bykov cycle, Lebesgue-almost all trajectories starting within a neighbourhood of the cycle are repelled from it. The main technique used involves placing several sections in the flow, near the fixed points, and then constructing a map that takes points from one particular section around the cycle and back to that section.