Chaotic Oscillations in Weakly Nonlinear Systems

The weakly nonlinear oscillator is a classical model widely used for studying various nonlinear phenomena in such fields as physics, mechanics, biology, and electrical engineering. This work is devoted to the study of the properties of weakly nonlinear systems, which result in the appearance of their chaotic behavior. The analysis is concentrated on three classical types of weakly nonlinear systems: the Duffing oscillator, the van der Pol oscillator, and the relaxation oscillator. The method of averaging is applied to the original equations of motion of these systems to obtain the averaged equations, which serve as the basic mathematical models in this work. The secondary averaging method is applied to the Duffing and van der Pol oscillators, driven by a quasiperiodic force, and an analysis of their properties is performed. Analytical expressions for the response curves and bifurcation conditions of various types in these systems have been obtained for the first time. The theoretical results have been compared with numerical ones, which agree closely. An approach using a discrete mapping has also been applied to the quasiperiodically forced Duffing and van der Pol oscillators. Corresponding maps have been derived and analyzed for the first time. The analytical results obtained for the response curves of the oscillators and bifurcation conditions of the quasiperiodic solutions are in good agreement with the results obtained using the secondary averaging technique and with numerical results. The mechanisms for the appearance of chaotic motion in weakly nonlinear oscillators with different types of hysteresis (due to nonisochronism and due to a relaxation element) have been analysed and discussed. The bifurcation portraits of the weakly nonlinear oscillators have been obtained numerically and the general characteristics of the transition from regular to chaotic motion in such systems have been analyzed. The theoretical results are in good agreement with the numerical ones.