A new deterministic model for chaotic reversals

TL;DR

This paper introduces a simple quadratic chaotic system capable of producing diverse dynamical regimes, including magnetic field reversals, demonstrating the relevance of deterministic chaos in modeling complex physical phenomena like Earth's geomagnetic reversals.

Contribution

A new quadratic chaotic model is proposed that exhibits reversal dynamics similar to Earth's magnetic field, expanding the understanding of chaos in physical systems.

Findings

System exhibits various dynamical regimes including chaos and reversals

Reversal mechanism involves crisis-induced intermittency

Model shows good agreement with geomagnetic reversal data

Abstract

We present a new chaotic system of three coupled ordinary differential equations, limited to quadratic nonlinear terms. A wide variety of dynamical regimes are reported. For some parameters, chaotic reversals of the amplitudes are produced by crisis-induced intermittency, following a mechanism different from what is generally observed in similar deterministic models. Despite its simplicity, this system therefore generates a rich dynamics, able to model more complex physical systems. In particular, a comparison with reversals of the magnetic field of the Earth shows a surprisingly good agreement, and highlights the relevance of deterministic chaos to describe geomagnetic field dynamics.