Universal scaling of Lyapunov exponents in coupled chaotic oscillators

Abstract

We have uncovered a phenomenon in coupled chaotic oscillators where a subset of Lyapunov exponents, which are originally zero in the absence of coupling, can become positive as the coupling is increased. This occurs for chaotic attractors having multiple scrolls, such as the Lorenz attractor. We argue that the phenomenon is due to the disturbance to the relative frequencies with which a trajectory visits different scrolls of the attractor. An algebraic scaling law is obtained which relates the Lyapunov exponents with the coupling strength. The scaling law appears to be universal.