Riddled basins in a model for the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction

Calculations show that the basin of attraction of periodicity can be riddle d with respect to the basin of chaos for two diffusively coupled CSTRs. Thi s hinders the predictability of the attractor, since arbitrarily close to a point in phase space leading to periodicity there exists a point leading t o chaos. Evidence and quantification is given by the uncertainty exponent a nd by sign-singular scaling behaviour. A single CSTR can display basins of attraction that are indistinguishable from riddled basins owing to the unav oidable limitations in computational or experimental accuracy. (C) 2000 Els evier Science B.V. All rights reserved.