To describe and analyze the unstable periodic orbits of the Rucklidge system, a so-called symbolic encoding method is introduced, which has been proven to be an efficient tool to explore the topological properties concealed in these periodic orbits. In this work, the unstable periodic orbits up to a certain topological length in the Rucklidge system are systematically investigated via a proposed variational method. The dynamics in the Rucklidge system are explored by using phase portrait analysis, Lyapunov exponents, and Poincaré first return maps. Symbolic encodings of the periodic orbits with two and four letters based on the trajectory topology in the phase space are implemented under two sets of parameter values. Meanwhile, the bifurcations of the periodic orbits are explored, significantly improving the understanding of the dynamics of the Rucklidge system. The multiple-letter symbolic encoding method could also be applicable to other nonlinear dynamical systems.

We proposed a general method for the systematic calculation of unstable cycles in the Zhou system. The variational approach is employed for the cycle search, and we establish interesting symbolic dynamics successfully based on the orbits circuiting property with respect to different fixed points. Upon the defined symbolic rule, cycles with topological length up to five are sought and ordered. Further, upon parameter changes, the homotopy evolution of certain selected cycles are investigated. The topological classification methodology could be widely utilized in other low-dimensional dissipative systems.