This review introduces most of the concepts used in the study of chaotic phenomena in nonlinear systems and has as its objective to summarize the current understanding of results from the theory of chaotic dynamical systems and to describe the original ideas underlying the study of deterministic chaos. The presentation relies on informal analysis, with abstract mathematical ideas visualized geometrically or by examples from physics. Hyperbolic dynamics, homoclinic trajectories and tangencies, wild hyperbolic sets, and different types of attractors which appear in dynamical systems are considered. The key aspects of ergodic theory are discussed, and the basic statistical properties of chaotic dynamical systems are described. The fundamental difference between stochastic dynamics and deterministic chaos is explained. The review concludes with an investigation of the possibility of studying complex systems on the basis of the analysis of registered signals, i.e., the generated time series.

PACS: 02.50.−r, 05.45.−a, 47.52.+j (all) DOI: 10.3367/UFNe.0180.201012d.1305 URL: https://ufn.ru/en/articles/2010/12/d/ 000288495700004 2-s2.0-79955613299 Citation: Loskutov A "Fascination of chaos" Phys. Usp. 53 1257–1280 (2010) BibTexBibNote ® (generic)BibNote ® (RIS)MedlineRefWorks Оригинал: Лоскутов А Ю «Очарование хаоса» УФН 180 1305–1329 (2010); DOI: 10.3367/UFNr.0180.201012d.1305