Chaotic Itinerancy Observed in Mutually Coupled Gaussian Maps

A one-dimensional Gaussian map defined by a Gaussian function describes a discrete-time dynamical system. Chaotic behavior can be observed in both Gaussian and logistic maps. This study analyzes the bifurcation structure corresponding to the fixed and periodic points of a coupled system comprising two Gaussian maps. The bifurcation structure of a mutually coupled Gaussian map is more complex than that of a mutually coupled logistic map. In a coupled Gaussian map, it was confirmed that after a stable fixed point or stable periodic points became unstable through the bifurcation, the points were able to recover their stability while the system parameters were changing. Moreover, we investigated a parameter region in which symmetric and asymmetric stable fixed points coexisted. Asymmetric unstable fixed point was generated by the [Formula: see text]-type branching of a symmetric stable fixed point. The stability of the unstable fixed point could be recovered through period-doubling and tangent bifurcations. Furthermore, a homoclinic structure related to the occurrence of chaotic behavior and invariant closed curves caused by two-periodic points was observed. The mutually coupled Gaussian map was merely a two-dimensional dynamical system; however, chaotic itinerancy, known to be a characteristic property associated with high-dimensional dynamical systems, was observed. The bifurcation structure of the mutually coupled Gaussian map clearly elucidates the mechanism of chaotic itinerancy generation in the two-dimensional coupled map. We discussed this mechanism by comparing the bifurcation structures of the Gaussian and logistic maps.