Nonlinear Science

Abstract

One phenomenon in the dynamics of differential equations which does not typically occur in systems without symmetry is heteroclinic cycles. In symmetric sys- tems, cycles can be robust for symmetry-preserving perturbations and stable. Cycles have been observed in a number of simulations and experiments, for example in rotating convection between two plates and for turbulent flows in a boundary layer. Theoretically the existence of robust cycles has been proved in the unfoldings of some low codimension bifurcations and in the context of forced symmetry breaking from a larger to a smaller symmetry group. In this article we review the theoretical and the applied research on robust cycles.