A simple Lorenz circuit and its radio frequency implementation

Abstract

A remarkably simple electronic circuit design based on the chaotic Lorenz system is described. The circuit consists of just two active nonlinear elements (high-speed analog multipliers) and a few passive linear elements. Experimental implementations of the circuit exhibit the classic butterfly attractor and the hysteretic transition from steady state to chaos observed in the Lorenz equations. The simplicity of the circuit makes it suitable for radio frequency applications. The power spectrum of the observed oscillations displays a peak frequency as high as 930 kHz and significant power beyond 1 MHz.