We consider both the dynamics within and towards the supercycle attractors along the perioddoubling route to chaos to analyze the development of a statistical-mechanical structure. In this structure the partition function consists of the sum of the attractor position distances known as supercycle diameters and the associated thermodynamic potential measures the rate of approach of trajectories to the attractor. The configurational weights for finite 2 N , and infinite N → ∞, periods can be expressed as power laws or deformed exponentials. For finite period the structure is undeveloped in the sense that there is no true configurational degeneracy, but in the limit N → ∞ this is realized together with the analog property of a Legendre transform linking entropies of two ensembles. We also study the partition functions for all N and the action of the Central Limit Theorem via a binomial approximation. PACS 5.45.Ac Low-dimensional chaos PACS 05.20.Gg Classical ensemble theory PACS 05.45.Df Fractals

It is well known that low-dimensional nonlinear deterministic maps close to a tangent bifurcation exhibit intermittency and this circumstance has been exploited, e.g., by Procaccia and Schuster [Phys. Rev. A 28, 1210 (1983)], to develop a general theory of 1/f spectra. This suggests it is interesting to study the extent to which the behavior of a high-dimensional stochastic system can be described by such tangent maps. The Tangled Nature (TaNa) Model of evolutionary ecology is an ideal candidate for such a study, a significant model as it is capable of reproducing a broad range of the phenomenology of macroevolution and ecosystems. The TaNa model exhibits strong intermittency reminiscent of punctuated equilibrium and, like the fossil record of mass extinction, the intermittency in the model is found to be non-stationary, a feature typical of many complex systems. We derive a mean-field version for the evolution of the likelihood function controlling the reproduction of species and find a local map close to tangency. This mean-field map, by our own local approximation, is able to describe qualitatively only one episode of the intermittent dynamics of the full TaNa model. To complement this result, we construct a complete nonlinear dynamical system model consisting of successive tangent bifurcations that generates time evolution patterns resembling those of the full TaNa model in macroscopic scales. The switch from one tangent bifurcation to the next in the sequences produced in this model is stochastic in nature, based on criteria obtained from the local mean-field approximation, and capable of imitating the changing set of types of species and total population in the TaNa model. The model combines full deterministic dynamics with instantaneous parameter random jumps at stochastically drawn times. In spite of the limitations of our approach, which entails a drastic collapse of degrees of freedom, the description of a high-dimensional model system in terms of a low-dimensional one appears to be illuminating.

The stationary distributions of sums of positions of trajectories generated by the logistic map have been found to follow a basic renormalization group (RG) structure: a nontrivial fixed-point multi-scale distribution at the period-doubling onset of chaos and a Gaussian trivial fixed-point distribution for all chaotic attractors. Here we describe in detail the crossover distributions that can be generated at chaotic band-splitting points that mediate between the aforementioned fixed-point distributions. Self affinity in the chaotic region imprints scaling features to the crossover distributions along the sequence of band splitting points. The trajectories that give rise to these distributions are governed first by the sequential formation of phase-space gaps when, initially uniformly-distributed, sets of trajectories evolve towards the chaotic band attractors. Subsequently, the summation of positions of trajectories already within the chaotic bands closes those gaps. The possible shapes of the resultant distributions depend crucially on the disposal of sets of early positions in the sums and the stoppage of the number of terms retained in them. PACS 5.45.Ac Low-dimensional chaos PACS 05.45.Pq Numerical simulations of chaotic systems PACS 05.10.Cc Renormalization group methods

We evaluate the implication and outlook of an unanticipated simplification in the macroscopic behavior of two high-dimensional sto-chastic models: the Replicator Model with Mutations and the Tangled Nature Model (TaNa) of evolutionary ecology. This simplification consists of the apparent display of low-dimensional dynamics in the nonstationary intermittent time evolution of the model on a coarse-grained scale. Evolution on this time scale spans generations of individuals, rather than single reproduction, death or mutation events. While a local one-dimensional map close to a tangent bifurcation can be derived from a mean-field version of the TaNa model, a nonlinear dynamical model consisting of successive tangent bifurcations generates time evolution patterns resembling those of the full TaNa model. To advance the interpretation of this finding, here we consider parallel results on a game-theoretic version of the TaNa model that in discrete time yields a coupled map lattice. This in turn is represented, a la Langevin, by a onedimensional nonlinear map. Among various kinds of behaviours we obtain intermittent evolution associated with tangent bifurcations. We discuss our results.