INFLUENCES ON OTTO E. RÖSSLER'S EARLIEST PAPER ON CHAOS

Abstract

Otto E. Rössler is well-known in "chaos theory" for having published one of the most often used benchmark systems producing chaotic attractors. His contribution is mostly reduced to this simple chaotic system published in 1976. Our aim is to show that a slightly earlier paper contains, in fact, much more and reveals a deep topological understanding of how chaotic attractors are organized in phase space. Moreover it is shown that Otto had three main influences: Andronov, Khaikin and Vitt's textbook, the 1963 Lorenz paper and Li and Yorke's theorem "period-three implies chaos". In this paper, these three contributions are clearly identified as the main influences on Rössler's earliest paper on chaos. The content of the latter is briefly compared to other works that appeared (or were available as reprints) before its own publication.