Precision measurements of a simple chaotic circuit

We describe a simple nonlinear electrical circuit that can be used to study chaotic phenomena. The circuit employs simple electronic elements such as diodes, resistors, and operational amplifiers, and is easy to construct. A novel feature of the circuit is its use of an almost ideal nonlinear element, which is straightforward to model theoretically and leads to excellent agreement between experiment and theory. For example, comparisons of bifurcation points and power spectra give agreement to within 1%. The circuit yields a broad range of behavior and is well suited for qualitative demonstrations and as a serious research tool. (C) 2004 American Association of Physics Teachers.