Evolution of chaos in the Matsumoto-Chua circuit: a symbolic dynamics approach

We use symbolic dynamics to follow the evolution of the Matsumoto-Chua circuit in the chaotic regime. We consider the evolution of the whole population of unstable periodic orbits and of the associated trajectories, in four chaotic attractors generated by the circuit. Symbolic planes and first return maps are built for different values of the control parameter. The bifurcation mechanism suggests the possibility of the existence of a homoclinic orbit.