Global dynamics of a planar mapping exhibiting orbits of periods 1, 2, 3 and no chaos
A geometrical analysis of the planar mapping A : ( x,y ) -> ( y+xy,x ) is presented. A complete global portrait of the invariant manifolds of A is found, primarily by deductive methods. The behaviour of some manifolds was initially investigated numerically, but theoretical explanations for the observations are given in every case. The most significant features of the mapping A are : that it has periodic points of periods 1, 2 and 3 only; that it possesses no chaotic behaviour; that it has sequences of abutting regions of self-similar structure, and that it exhibits heteroclinic behaviour manifesting itself as exponentially small oscillations in some of the invariant manifolds.