Symbolic Quest into Homoclinic Chaos

We explore the multifractal, self-similar organization of heteroclinic and homoclinic bifurcations of saddle singularities in the parameter space of the Shimizu–Morioka model that exhibits the Lorenz chaotic attractor. We show that complex transformations that underlie the transitions from the Lorenz attractor to wildly chaotic dynamics are intensified by Shilnikov saddle-foci. These transformations are due to the emergence of Shilnikov flames originating from inclinationswitch homoclinic bifurcations of codimension-two. We demonstrate how the original computational technique, based on the symbolic description and kneading invariants, can disclose the complexity and universality of parametric structures and their link with nonlocal bifurcations in this representative model.