Numerical Study of Discrete Lorenz-Like Attractors

We consider a homotopic to the identity family of maps, obtained as a discretization of the Lorenz system, such that the dynamics of the last is recovered as a limit dynamics when the discretization parameter tends to zero. We investigate the structure of the discrete Lorenz-like attractors that the map shows for different values of parameters. In particular, we check the pseudohyperbolicity of the observed discrete attractors and show how to use interpolating vector fields to compute kneading diagrams for near-identity maps. For larger discretization parameter values, the map exhibits what appears to be genuinely-discrete Lorenz-like attractors, that is, discrete chaotic pseudohyperbolic attractors with a negative second Lyapunov exponent. The numerical methods used are general enough to be adapted for arbitrary near-identity discrete systems with similar phase space structure.