Strange nonchaotic stars

Abstract

The unprecedented light curves of the Kepler space telescope document how the brightness of some stars pulsates at primary and secondary frequencies whose ratios are near the golden mean, the most irrational number. A nonlinear dynamical system driven by an irrational ratio of frequencies generically exhibits a strange but nonchaotic attractor. For Kepler's "golden" stars, we present evidence of the first observation of strange nonchaotic dynamics in nature outside the laboratory. This discovery could aid the classification and detailed modeling of variable stars.

5 pages, 4 figures, published in Physical Review Letters

References in corpus (4)

• Long time-scale behavior of the Blazhko effect from rectified Kepler data
• Pulsation period variations in the RRc Lyrae star KIC 5520878
• Irrationality and quasiperiodicity in driven nonlinear systems
• Nonlinear dynamical analysis of the Blazhko effect with the Kepler space telescope: the case of V783 Cyg

Cited by in corpus (3)

• Bifurcations and strange nonchaotic attractors in a phase oscillator model of glacial-interglacial cycles
• Early Warning Signals Indicate a Critical Transition in Betelgeuse
• Revisiting Evidence of Chaos in X-ray Light Curves: The Case of GRS 1915+105