PHYS 460 - Non-linear Systems and Chaos

3 cr.

Non-linear systems in mechanics and electronics are studied. Limit cycles, chaotic attractors, hysteresis, stability and phase space are defined and applied to complex systems. Classical oscillators, e.g., Duffing oscillator, the van der Pol oscillator and the Lorenz equations, will be solved through various approximation methods. Chaos, bifurcations, routes to chaos, chaotic maps, correspondence between maps and Poincare sections of physical systems will be studied.