Experimental Study of Nonlinear Behaviour of a Neon Glow Discharge

Abstract

AbstractWe report on experimental investigations of a periodically perturbed Neon glow discharge in a parameter range where the unperturbed system is characterized by the existence of p‐ and r‐ waves. Though the experimental plasma system has many potential degrees of freedom, its phase space behaviour is low dimensional. The discharge current exhibits sequences of periodic, quasi‐periodic and chaotic states which in many aspects correspond to a dissipative circle map. Moreover experiments show that the system displays a route to chaos via formation of entrainment islands and subsequent folding and break up of the tori, which cannot be described by a one‐dimensional theory, and which has not been reported in the literature until now.