PoincarÉ Planes in Nonlinear Electronics

Details of electronic circuitry to define Poincaré planes in the phase space of nonlinear electronic systems are presented. It allows an experimental setup to capture data at every moment the system’s orbit crosses the Poincaré plane. We illustrate how the circuit is used in an experimental setup that allows us (i) to reconstruct bifurcation cascades and to disclose induced first return chaotic maps in a harmonically forced nonlinear oscillator, and (ii) to study bistable switching in Chua’s oscillator.